New Study Bolsters Idea of Athletic Differences Between Men and Trans Women

The swimmer Lia Thomas is challenging her sport’s ban on transgender athletes, which was created after she won a college championship in 2022.A new study financed by the International Olympic Committee found that transgender female athletes showed greater handgrip strength — an indicator of overall muscle strength — but lower jumping ability, lung function and relative cardiovascular fitness compared with women whose gender was assigned female at birth.

That data, which also compared trans women with men, contradicted a broad claim often made by proponents of rules that bar transgender women from competing in women’s sports. It also led the study’s authors to caution against a rush to expand…