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Sex Testing, Maked Inspections and the Olympic Games – A Correction to: The London 2012 Olympics – A Gender Equality Audit

In a research Report on gender equality at the London 2012 Olympics, we made an incidental statement about sex testing in the form of naked inspections of women athletes at Olympic Games in the 1960s. In stating this, we were following in the footsteps of numerous academics and journalists who had made a similar assertion. The Report was generally received favourably, including by Anita DeFrantz, a senior member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and chair of the IOC Women and Sports Commission since 1995. However, she pointed out that there was no evidence that naked inspections were carried out at Olympic Games. We accepted Ms. DeFrantz’s challenge and, following additional research and consultations, discovered that she is correct. Naked inspections were carried out in the 1960s by the international track and field federation (IAAF), and at other multi-sport events such as the Commonwealth Games and the Pan American Games, but not at Olympic Games. We have corrected the original Report, and we are grateful to Ms. DeFrantz for drawing our attention to the error; we have taken this opportunity to set the record straight. However, our original critique of sex testing as yet another humiliating aspect of sport for women athletes still stands, and the International Olympic Committee are by no means innocent in this process