Integrating transwomen athletes into elite competition: The case of elite archery and shooting.

The inclusion of transwomen into elite female sport has been brought into question recently with World Rugby banning transwomen from the elite female competition, aiming to prioritise safety over fairness and inclusion, citing the size, force and power-producing advantages conferred to transwomen. The same question is being asked of all Olympic sports including non-contact sports such as archery and shooting. As both these Olympic sports are the polar opposite to the contact sport of rugby in terms of the need to consider the safety of athletes, the IF of both archery and shooting should consider the other elements when deciding the integration of trans individuals in their sports. Studies on non-athletic transwomen have reported muscle mass and strength loss in the range of 5-10% after 1 year of their transition, with these differences no longer apparent after 2 years. Therefore, based on the current scientific literature, it would be justified for meaningful competition and to prioritise fairness, that transwomen be permitted to compete in elite archery after 2 years of GAT. Similarly, it would be justified in terms of shooting to prioritise inclusion and allow transwomen after 1 year of GAT given that the only negligible advantage that transwomen may have is superior visuospatial coordination. The impact of this considered integration of transwomen in elite sports such as archery and shooting could be monitored and lessons learned for other sports, especially where there are no safety concerns from contact with an opponent.

The construction of categories in sport: Unfair advantages, equality of opportunity and strict attainability.

On 8 September 2020, the Swiss Federal Supreme Sport dismissed the double appeal by Caster Semenya against the decision of the Court for Arbitration of Sport to uphold the World Athletics regulations restricting testosterone levels in female runners. On 24 February 2021, Semenya appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. This is the most recent episode of an international legal case which was ignited at the 2009 Berlin World Track Championship, when Semenya was 18 years old. Semenya's case has generated an intricate web of questions for classification in sport that are yet to be resolved. In this paper we aim to disentangle them. We proceed as follows: we describe the problem of binary classification related to Semenya's case and introduce the concept of property advantage, and the fair equality of opportunity principle. We compare Semenya's case with Eero Mantyranta's case and fail to identify a way according to which the two cases could justifiably be treated differently. We then discuss three possible ways to organize sport categories based on the combination of Loland's fair equality of opportunity principle and our strict attainability criterion, and outline the implications of each alternative for international sports law regulation. Finally, we summarize and outline the legacy of Semenya for the construction of categories in sport.

The logic of categorisation in sport.

The aim of this paper is to examine the basis of eligibility rules in sport by exhibiting the logic of categorisation, with its associated ethical problems. We shall be concerned mainly with pre-competition categories - age, sex, weight and dis/ability - because they are directly relevant to sports performance and are relatively stable inequalities. We shall prefer to use the term "categorisation", although we mean by it just what others might mean by classification, to refer to divisions, classes, groups, etc. The paper argues that we have categories only because we consider it desirable to offer some groups protected status in order to enable and promote inclusion and fairness. This desirability condition determines eligibility. Only then do issues arise of which sub-categories we should have, and how they are to be policed. There will always be categories in sport, as a minimum to protect athletes based on age groupings, from children to veterans. But since every categorisation brings its own problems, we need to ensure that we keep them balanced, so that sport can strive for maximum inclusion of different kinds of athletes, and maximum fairness. This requires us to step back from the many particular debates in order to rethink the logic of the whole categorisation process.

Classification in sport: A question of fairness.

Competitor classification schemes have been a part of sport since its origins. Eligibility criteria have developed towards inclusion and increasing diversity. The pool of competitors has expanded from the ancient Olympic Games, eligible only to free Greek men, via nineteenth-century English sport favouring primarily the upper class of so-called gentlemen amateurs, to the current global and diverse pool of men, women, children, and able-bodied as well as disabled persons. Hence, the challenge of sound classification schemes has increased. This article examines the principles of fair classification of athletes. With the help of normative theory as well as practical examples, a fair equality of opportunity principle for sport (FEOPs) is formulated. It is demonstrated how sound classification schemes combine the normative backing from FEOPs with relevant scientific insights. Current classification challenges and possibilities for change are discussed. It is suggested that in several sports, biological sex classes can be abandoned, and that in some sports, sex classes can be replaced by body size classes. It is argued, too, that sports in which body height exerts a significant and systematic impact on performance should classify accordingly. In the final part, classification is discussed in light of new techno-scientific possibilities, among them the possibility of innovative performance-enhancing prosthetics.

An evaluation of prevention initiatives by 53 national anti-doping organizations: Achievements and limitations.

BACKGROUND: One main purpose of the World Anti-Doping Agency was to harmonize anti-doping efforts, including the provision of anti-doping education. A multifaceted approach to doping prevention can play a key role in preventing intentional and unintentional doping. This article aimed to systematically record and evaluate doping prevention approaches in the form of information and education activities of national anti-doping organizations (NADOs) and assess the extent to which a multifaceted doping prevention approach has been realized. METHODS: Data on anti-doping information and education activities of 53 NADOs were collected via a survey and an online search of the NADOs' websites. Prevention activities were classified into knowledge focused, affective focused, social skills, life skills, and ethic- and value- based. The implementation of the prevention activities was assessed by 4 independent raters using a modified visual analogue scale. RESULTS: In total, 59% of the NADOs (n = 38) returned the survey and 70% (n = 45) had information available online. The data were combined for the visual analogue scale assessment. Overall, 58% of the NADOs (n = 37) reported offering activities including elements of all 5 approaches. Results of the raters' assessments indicated that the knowledge-focused approach was best implemented; the implementation of the other 4 approaches was largely unsatisfactory. The most common barriers to implementing doping prevention programs reported by the NADOs were lack of resources (n = 26) and difficulties in collaborating with sports organizations (n = 8). CONCLUSION: Results show a discrepancy between NADOs' self-report data and the implementation assessment. Even though the NADOs indicated otherwise, most of their education-based approaches did not address aspects of the visual analogue scale (e.g., resisting peer pressure) and only a few programs were ongoing. Possible explanations might be found in the reported barriers (e.g., financial). Concrete guidelines defining multifaceted, values-based education, and best practice examples should be developed to indicate how to include all 5 approaches in prevention.

Sport and exercise genomics: the FIMS 2019 consensus statement update.

Rapid advances in technologies in the field of genomics such as high throughput DNA sequencing, big data processing by machine learning algorithms and gene-editing techniques are expected to make precision medicine and gene-therapy a greater reality. However, this development will raise many important new issues, including ethical, moral, social and privacy issues. The field of exercise genomics has also advanced by incorporating these innovative technologies. There is therefore an urgent need for guiding references for sport and exercise genomics to allow the necessary advancements in this field of sport and exercise medicine, while protecting athletes from any invasion of privacy and misuse of their genomic information. Here, we update a previous consensus and develop a guiding reference for sport and exercise genomics based on a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. This SWOT analysis and the developed guiding reference highlight the need for scientists/clinicians to be well-versed in ethics and data protection policy to advance sport and exercise genomics without compromising the privacy of athletes and the efforts of international sports federations. Conducting research based on the present guiding reference will mitigate to a great extent the risks brought about by inappropriate use of genomic information and allow further development of sport and exercise genomics in accordance with best ethical standards and international data protection principles and policies. This guiding reference should regularly be updated on the basis of new information emerging from the area of sport and exercise medicine as well as from the developments and challenges in genomics of health and disease in general in order to best protect the athletes, patients and all other relevant stakeholders.

Athletic Trainer Burnout: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the causes, effects, and prevalence of burnout in athletic trainers (ATs) identified in the literature. DATA SOURCES: EBSCO: SPORTDiscus and OneSearch were accessed, using the search terms athletic trainer AND burnout. STUDY SELECTION: Studies selected for inclusion were peer reviewed, published in a journal, and written in English and investigated prevalence, causes, effects, or alleviation of AT burnout. DATA EXTRACTION: The initial search yielded 558 articles. Articles that did not specifically involve ATs were excluded from further inspection. The remaining 83 full-text articles were reviewed. Of these 83 articles, 48 examined prevalence, causes, effects, or alleviation of AT burnout. An evaluation of the bibliographies of those 48 articles revealed 3 additional articles that were not initially identified but met the inclusion criteria. In total, 51 articles were included in data collection. DATA SYNTHESIS: Articles were categorized based on investigation of prevalence, causes, effects, or alleviation of burnout. Articles were also categorized based on which subset of the athletic training population they observed (ie, athletic training students, certified graduate assistants, high school or collegiate staff members, academic faculty). CONCLUSIONS: Burnout was observed in all studied subsets of the population (ie, students, graduate assistants, staff, faculty), and multiple causes of burnout were reported. Suggested causes of burnout in ATs included work-life conflict and organizational factors such as poor salaries, long hours, and difficulties dealing with the "politics and bureaucracy" of athletics. Effects of burnout in ATs included physical, emotional, and behavioral concerns (eg, intention to leave the job or profession).

Exploring Predictors of Moral Disengagement in Collegiate Athletic Trainers.

CONTEXT: Considering recent high-profile reports of malpractice and negligence by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletic trainers (ATs), it is prudent to investigate the psychological mechanisms that may influence ATs' ability to justify unethical behaviors. When treating injured student-athletes, ATs may undergo a cognitive process known as moral disengagement, which involves convincing oneself that ethical standards do not apply in a particular context. OBJECTIVE: To explore the psychological factors and traits among ATs that may predict moral disengagement pertaining to allowing athletes to play through injuries. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Online survey. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: A total of 187 Division I, II, and III ATs from 100 NCAA universities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): In addition to the primary outcome variable of moral disengagement, the survey captured the AT's demographic background, sport and athletic training histories, and measures of sport ethic, contesting orientations, commitment, and social identity. RESULTS: Cluster analysis was used to identify homogeneous subgroups of participants based on these variables. A 2-cluster solution emerged, with cluster 1 (n = 94) scoring higher in the sport-ethic and sport-contesting orientations but lower in commitment and social identity compared with cluster 2 (n = 93). An independent-samples t test revealed that moral disengagement was highest (t185 = 19.59, P < .001, d = 0.69) among ATs in cluster 1. CONCLUSIONS: These findings advance our understanding of the psychological processes that may predict moral disengagement of ATs in allowing student-athletes to play through injury. Although additional research is needed to test whether moral disengagement influences return-to-play decisions, we provide initial evidence that ATs who conform to sport norms (eg, "no pain, no gain") and who tend to view sport competition with a "war-like" orientation are more likely to morally disengage.

How do researchers acquire and develop notions of research integrity? A qualitative study among biomedical researchers in Switzerland.

BACKGROUND: Structured training in research integrity, research ethics and responsible conduct of research is one strategy to reduce research misconduct and strengthen reliability of and trust in scientific evidence. However, how researchers develop their sense of integrity is not fully understood. We examined the factors and circumstances that shape researchers' understanding of research integrity. METHODS: This study draws insights from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 33 researchers in the life sciences and medicine, representing three seniority levels across five research universities in Switzerland. RESULTS: The results of this study indicate that early education, moral values inculcated by the family and participation in team sports were the earliest influences on notions of honesty, integrity and fairness among researchers. Researchers' personality traits, including degree of ambition and internal moral compass, were perceived as critical in determining the importance they attributed to conducting research with high ethical standards. Positive and negative experiences in early research life also had a significant impact on their views regarding research integrity. Two thirds of the study participants had not received any formal training in research integrity. Their awareness of training opportunities at their institutions was also limited. CONCLUSION: Age-appropriate development of honesty and integrity starts as early as primary education. Research integrity training should be offered from the bachelors level and continue throughout the entire professional life of researchers. Although these courses may not imbue researchers with integrity itself, they are essential to improving the research culture, reinforcing integrity norms, and discouraging researchers who lack personal integrity from engaging in research misconduct.

[Ethics in Swiss equestrian sports: Is animal welfare adequately implemented?] / Ethik im Schweizer Pferdesport: Wird der Tierschutz auf Schweizer Turnierplätzen ausreichend umgesetzt?

INTRODUCTION: Animal welfare in equestrian sports is a very current and important topic for animal right groups as well as for the Swiss association for equestrian sports "Schweizerischer Verband für Pferdesport (SVPS)". The penalty commission "Sanktionskomission (SAKO)" of the SVPS reported only few to none cases of infringements of animal welfare provision on horses at a time in the past few years. This fact was criticised several times by different animal right groups in Switzerland. Therefore a survey was sent in 2017 to 544 active officials (horse show judges) of the SVPS. Overall, 146 answered questionnaires could be evaluated. The evaluation of the survey was able to confirm the statement of the animal right groups that the number of infringements of animal welfare provision is much higher than the number -handled by the SAKO. Altogether, 203 offences which are relevant in animal welfare were observed by the officials who participated in this survey in 2017. In contrast to these findings, no handled cases of infringements in animal welfare provision were published in the annual report 2017 of the SAKO. 178 of the 203 offences observed by the officials were addressed and reprimanded directly on the showground. The most common incidents which are relevant in animal welfare named by the officials in the survey were inappropriate, aggressive behaviour of the rider or driver and rough handling with artificial aids. A considerable part of the officials feels that the animal welfare situation on Swiss equestrian showgrounds is unsatisfying. An improvement of animal protection in Swiss equestrian sports can be achieved by raising the awareness for this topic of the officials as well as the equestrians and horse owners.

INTRODUCTION: La protection des animaux dans les sports équestres est un sujet d'actualité très important tant pour les organisations de protection des animaux que pour Fédération suisse des Sports Equestres (FSSE). La Commission des sanctions de la FSSE n'a eu à traiter que peu ou pas de cas d'infractions aux dispositions relatives au bien-être animal sur les chevaux au cours des dernières années. Ce fait a été critiqué à plusieurs reprises par différentes associations de protection des animaux en Suisse. Par conséquent, un sondage a été envoyé en 2017 à 544 officiels actifs (juges de concours, constructeurs de parcours) de la FSSE. Au total, 146 réponses aux questionnaires ont pu être évaluées. L'évaluation de l'enquête a permis de confirmer l'affirmation des organisations de protection des animaux selon laquelle le nombre d'atteintes au bien-être des animaux est plus élevé que celui traité par la SAKO. Au total, 203 comportements concernant la protection des animaux ont été constatés en 2017par les 146 officiels qui ont participé à cette enquête. Aucun cas traité d'infraction aux dispositions relatives au bien-être animal n'a été publié dans le rapport annuel 2017 de la Commission des sanctions. 178 des 203 infractions constatées par les officiels ont été relevées et réprimandées directement sur la place de concours. Les incidents les plus fréquents concernant le bien-être des animaux, cités par les responsables de l'enquête, étaient un comportement agressif inapproprié du cavalier et une utilisation brutale avec des aides artificielles et des moyens auxiliaires. Une grande partie des officiels estiment que la situation du bien-être animal sur les places de concours équestres suisses peut encore être améliorée. Pour cela il est particulièrement important de faire preuve d'un courage suffisant pour intervenir lorsqu'une situation problématique est observée. Une sensibilisation permanente des officiels ainsi que des cavaliers et des détenteurs de chevaux est également nécessaire.

Transwomen in elite sport: scientific and ethical considerations.

The inclusion of elite transwomen athletes in sport is controversial. The recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) (2015) guidelines allow transwomen to compete in the women's division if (amongst other things) their testosterone is held below 10 nmol/L. This is significantly higher than that of cis-women. Science demonstrates that high testosterone and other male physiology provides a performance advantage in sport suggesting that transwomen retain some of that advantage. To determine whether the advantage is unfair necessitates an ethical analysis of the principles of inclusion and fairness. Particularly important is whether the advantage held by transwomen is a tolerable or intolerable unfairness. We conclude that the advantage to transwomen afforded by the IOC guidelines is an intolerable unfairness. This does not mean transwomen should be excluded from elite sport but that the existing male/female categories in sport should be abandoned in favour of a more nuanced approach satisfying both inclusion and fairness.

The unethicality of doping in sports.

Performance enhancing drug use in sport arguably constitutes a crisis, and as such, targeted measures are needed in order to stem it. Substance abuse in professional sports and competitions has besmirched many world-class athletes' reputations and standing, in addition to jeopardizing their health. Furthermore, there are many instances of amateur athletes and school-aged competitors who have taken to using such substances as well, significantly exacerbating the overall picture. The widespread acknowledgement of the potentially life-threatening consequences of performance-enhancing drug use has prodded sports organizations and governments into cooperating on many different levels to preserve the ethical grounding and soundness of sport competitions; unlawful substance abuse is in fact liable to undermine the very core of fairness in competition. Doping, along with various forms of cheating, has been recorded throughout the history of sport: prohibition in itself is all but ineffective without reliable and systematic detection strategies and enforcement of sanctions.

The Relationship between Moral Climate of Sports and the Moral Behavior of Young Athletes: A Multilevel Meta-analysis.

Sports are among the most important leisure activities for youth and adolescents. Both positive (i.e., prosocial) and negative (i.e., antisocial) moral behaviors occur on the playing field. To stimulate positive sports experiences, it is important to understand which factors are related to the moral behavior of young athletes; one of these is the moral climate, that is, the socio-moral environment in which sports take place. Little is known about the overall strength of the relationship between moral climate and moral behavior of young athletes, as well as the potential moderating factors of this relationship. A meta-analysis of 27 studies containing 117 effect sizes and N = 7726 young athletes (age < 18 years) was conducted. The results show that there is an overall significant association between these two variables (r= 0.40), indicating that a prosocial moral climate is related to less antisocial and more prosocial behavior, while an antisocial moral climate is associated with more antisocial and less prosocial behavior of young athletes. Two study characteristics significantly moderated this relationship: specifically, stronger associations were found in cross-sectional and in older studies. In addition, the strength of the association between moral climate and moral behavior was stronger for antisocial moral climate compared to prosocial moral climate. Finally, associations for team members were stronger than those of coaches or a broad moral club climate. Implications for further research and sports practice are discussed.