Susan's Place Transgender Resources

New study challenges trans 'advantage' argument in women's sports

https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/08/12/trans-athletes-womens-sports-advantage-scientific-study/

Siân Thompson (12 Aug 2026)

The argument that transgender women retain an inherent physical advantage over cisgender women after undergoing hormone therapy is being challenged by researchers in Brazil who pooled the results of 52 studies involving thousands of participants to compare the physical characteristics and fitness of transgender women and cisgender women following hormone therapy in a study published this year.

The researchers found that transgender women generally had greater lean muscle mass, but that difference did not translate into a clear advantage in physical performance. Across the studies examined, there were no meaningful differences between transgender and cisgender women in upper-body strength, lower-body strength or aerobic fitness after hormone therapy.

The study's authors concluded that while transgender women exhibited higher lean mass, their overall physical fitness was comparable with that of cisgender women. They also noted that the available evidence is largely of low certainty and varies in quality.

Bruno Gualano, a physician and researcher at the University of São Paulo and a co-author of the study, said the findings challenge the reasoning behind blanket restrictions on transgender women in sport.

"This refutes the logic behind blanket bans on transgender women in sports," Gualano said in a 15 June interview with The Brighter Side. He argued that many such policies are based on the assumption that transgender women retain inherent physical advantages that would allow them to dominate women's competitions, adding: "The data does not support this idea."

Here's a whopper of a document; the complete, absolute, unedited, unabridged, no exclusions, worldwide, intergalactic, shown in all its glory, list of people taking estradiol to gain a competitive advantage in sports:

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<crickets>

The Impact of Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy on Physical Performance
https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/109/2/e455/7223439
Oxford Academic
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
13 July 2023

Existing literature comprises cross-sectional or small uncontrolled longitudinal studies of short duration. In nonathletic trans men starting testosterone therapy, within 1 year, muscle mass and strength increased and, by 3 years, physical performance (push-ups, sit-ups, run time) improved to the level of cisgender men. In nonathletic trans women, feminizing hormone therapy increased fat mass by approximately 30% and decreased muscle mass by approximately 5% after 12 months, and steadily declined beyond 3 years.

While absolute lean mass remains higher in trans women, relative percentage lean mass and fat mass (and muscle strength corrected for lean mass), hemoglobin, and VO2 peak corrected for weight was no different to cisgender women. After 2 years of GAHT, no advantage was observed for physical performance measured by running time or in trans women. By 4 years, there was no advantage in sit-ups. While push-up performance declined in trans women, a statistical advantage remained relative to cisgender women.

(Bold added by me)

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The studies continue to say the same thing year after year. All of the elected officials with medical degrees just ignore the studies, including Doctors Trump and Kennedy.

Let's not forget Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, and Doctor Howard.