Fis slopes: The gender tests inside the ski gate are postponed

In September 2025, Fis trumpeted on its website that the skiing sports would follow in the footsteps of athletics and introduce gender tests.

National associations and activists reacted with big question marks. At once? In which competitions? How? Karin Mattsson, then Swedish representative on Fi's board, clarified for DN: We have made a decision about a direction, not about the finished policy.

In October, after Fi's next board meeting, it was then announced that a so-called eligibility policy - who has the right to compete in the women's and men's classes - would be drawn up and that it would be clubbed in April 2026.

The plan at the time was that the eligibility policy would be introduced on a trial basis for the World Ski Championships in Falun in 2027, and then apply to the World Cup in the 2027/28 season.

It won't be like that.

- No, it will not be implemented this season. Because the IOC (International Olympic Committee) changed some of its policies and the whole sports world wants to follow the same line, says Bruno Sassi, Fi's communications manager.

The IOC's new "Policy for the protection of the women's class in Olympic sports" was published in March this year. It states that only biological women may compete in the women's division from the 2028 Los Angeles Games onwards. What determines is whether the athlete has the so-called SRY gene or not. SRY-negative people may compete in the women's class and SRY-positive people in the men's class.

It is the same test used by athletics and which Fis has already determined will determine eligibility in skiing. Bruno Sassi says that there are several reasons why Fis is still waiting.

- It is extremely complicated to introduce the tests. They are costly and involve many pitfalls depending on the different markets (in Norway, for example, non-medical genetic testing is not legal; eds note), he says and continues:

- A policy will be communicated once the following are decided: a start date, who will perform the tests and who will pay for them.