London Marathon to Allow Transgender Runners to Compete as Women Despite Supreme Court Ruling

The organisers of the London Marathon have declared that biologically male transgender individuals will still be able to compete against women in the upcoming race, despite the recent ruling from the Supreme Court upholding the reality of biological sex.

London Marathon race director Hugh Brasher said Wednesday that contestants will be able to compete against those in the sex that they identify with in the main mass participation race.

The organisation noted, however, that transgender runners would not be eligible for female races in the elite, championship, or “good for age” categories, as is prohibited by guidelines from World Athletics, the BBC reported.

Last week, a Supreme Court ruling found that the sexes are defined by their biologies under the Equality Act, likely meaning that supposedly transgender individuals would be barred from being able to launch lawsuits claiming inequality if they are barred from single-sex spaces, likely including areas such as female-only toilets, changing rooms, and sports.

Rather than immediately implementing the ruling, the London Marathon’s organisers said they would wait until receiving reports on the ruling from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Sport England before changing their policies.

However, other sporting bodies already restrict access to their events before the Supreme Court ruling, including British Cycling, British Rowing, the Rugby Football Union (RFU), and UK Athletics, among others.

The London Marathon previously drew controversy over its transgender policy. In 2023, “Glenique Frank”, who competed in the New York Marathon the year before as “Glen” in the men’s category, beat out nearly 14,000 women in the London Marathon to come in 6,160th place out of 20,123 women after entering the race as a woman.

Had Frank competed in the male category, he would have placed 15,386th. Following the race, Frank proudly proclaimed in an interview with the BBC that the performance was a demonstration of “girl power”.

Former British Olympian and one of the fastest women in history, Mara Yamauchi, criticised Frank for competing against women as a biological male, saying: “Nearly 14,000 women finished in a worse finish position because of him… Males in the female category is unfair for females.”

Frank later apologised for entering the women’s race, and has since gone on to advocate for a separate transgender competition in marathon running.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on X: Follow @KurtZindulka or e-mail to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.