A history of single-sex sport

From the first recorded women’s cricket match, on Gosden Common in 1745, to Sophie Cunningham’s iconic pointing finger on the basketball court, single-sex sport has always been a pursuit of fairness.  Women’s sport began as a response to exclusion: women were not allowed to play, so they played amongst themselves. Why, then, in an era of widespread participation and inclusion, are the majority of sports still segregated by sex?

The most obvious answer is the recognition of physiological differences: fairness requires that men and women compete separately. Incidentally, the law requires this as well. Problems arise with athletes whose gender identity doesn’t align with their sex, when they wish to enter in the opposing category. Incorporating arguments on synthetic hormones and performance enhancing drugs, fairness is central to every aspect of this debate and has been since at least 1950, when the IAAF first formally sex-tested athletes.

Yet, Sophie Cunningham, a WNBA player for Indiana Fever, received a ‘storm of outrage’ when she opposed biological males competing in women’s competitive sports. This is hardly a surprising comment from a female basketball player. This is a sport which has different balls for men and women, and where skill can often be aided by height. There is an obvious disadvantage to women playing against men. However, for acknowledging this, she was condemned for propagating hate and discrimination.

Some sports, however, do not have a measurable sex-based performance gap: equestrian sports, ultra-endurance racing and motorsports, for example. Women are legally and officially welcome to enter Formula 1, yet only two have ever qualified. In these fields, women’s sporting initiatives contend to pursue fairness by encouraging more women and girls to participate. But when women can enter both F1 and Women’s F1, equality of opportunity takes a back seat.

Is it still relevant to separate sports by sex? How far should we go to accommodate gender non-conforming athletes? Are some women’s sports a form of DEI, and if so, are they helpful or harmful?