Two female runners competing in a state higher college championship this weekend have come beneath attack simply because men and women think they are transgender and hence may well have an unfair benefit. But the science is far from clear as to no matter whether trans athletes are in fact more rapidly or stronger than their cisgender peers, professionals say.

The proof is specifically murky for teen athletes, who may well be going by way of puberty or taking drugs to suppress hormones — actions that could enhance their overall performance or hinder it, or have really tiny influence at all.

As the worldwide debate about transgender athletes’ participation in all levels of sport ramps up — especially in the United States, which is enduring a wave of anti-trans legislation — a paucity of analysis on the topic tends to make it difficult to have an understanding of specifically what’s at stake, say professionals in sports medicine and gender biology.

But for young athletes, equal access to sports — which present a slew of added benefits, physically, mentally and socially — outweighs any possible challenges of unfairness, quite a few professionals in youth sports say. That is why California, along with a dozen other states, makes it possible for youngsters to participate in the gender category related with their identity, without the need of query or restrictions.

“The most critical factor is that absolutely everyone is treated equally and incorporated, and has the chance to participate,” stated Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco, who has studied policies for transgender athletes for 20 years. “That has to be the overriding consideration in K-12 college-primarily based sports.”

Only a handful of modest research exist that examine no matter whether transgender men and women, in certain trans females, have an unfair benefit in sports primarily based on their biology. The initial study, out of Loughborough University in the United Kingdom and published in 2015, looked at performances for eight trans female athletes and discovered they had been about equally competitive prior to and immediately after transitioning.

Yet another study, also from Loughborough University and published in 2021, discovered that for many important markers of athletic overall performance, trans female athletes on hormone therapy for at least 3 months had been really related to cisgender athletes.

“It’s not unreasonable to recommend that in endurance overall performance, trans females who are on hormone therapy may well not have any important benefits,” stated Joanna Harper, a doctoral student at Loughborough who was an author on each research and is a transgender runner herself.

A great deal of the concentrate is on testosterone, the male hormone that floods boys’ bodies in the course of puberty and assists them create muscle mass, and has other effects that could enhance athletic overall performance. Quite a few trans women — even though certainly not all — take drugs to suppress testosterone, and some competitive sports organizations call for female athletes to meet specific hormone levels in order to participate.

That is most likely affordable, from a scientific point of view, for college sports and beyond, stated Harper. But that sort of testing for higher college athletes is dicier, partly simply because trans youth may well not be taking hormone-suppressing drugs, and forcing them to as a requirement to play would be incorrect, she stated.

“The higher college factor, it is truly, truly difficult,” Harper stated. “There are higher college trans girls who are on hormone therapy, but they do so not simply because of sports, but simply because it is the correct time for them to go on hormone therapy.”

The public backlash against the two runners competing in the California Interscholastic Federation championships Friday and Saturday hinges on assumptions that each athletes are transgender, primarily based in portion on them obtaining run on boys’ teams in preceding seasons.

But neither girl has identified publicly as transgender, and it is not identified if they are at present or have ever taken hormone-suppressing drugs. And they shouldn’t have to reveal that data, say professionals in sports medicine and biology, along with trans rights advocates.

“The ideal policy would be to accept all youngsters, let all youngsters participate, and not get into the potentially really troubling arena of requiring youngsters to go by way of really invasive examinations and scrutiny,” Minter stated.

Minter and other folks also questioned no matter whether challenges of fairness had been truly driving the conversations about trans athletes’ participation. “Transgender youngsters are significantly less than 1% of the population — there’s not been any indication of any systemic difficulty,” Minter stated. “Most transgender youngsters playing sports are typical, just like most youngsters are typical.

“What’s taking place now is not for the most portion about any reputable issues or concerns,” he added. “It’s just a political targeting of a vulnerable group. It is not that challenges have abruptly arisen, it is that it is abruptly develop into a political concern. And that is truly tragic for these youngsters.”

Certainly, the attacks on the athletes participating in this weekend’s state championships began in portion simply because some men and women believed that a cisgender athlete who came in fourth was upset about losing to a presumed trans athlete, Athena Ryan, a higher college junior from Sonoma County who placed second.

Some critics of Ryan’s participation noted her celebrating the accomplishment — along with a private ideal time for the season — in an interview with Milesplit, which tracks student athlete performances. Just immediately after finishing her qualifying race final weekend, Ryan thanked her coach and her father for providing her self-assurance, and stated she was excited to have run beneath five minutes for the 1,600 meters.

“I wasn’t expecting that. I’ve dropped like 17 seconds on my season-ideal in the previous two weeks,” Ryan stated, nevertheless out of breath from the race.

Ryan’s enhanced instances more than the course of a single season would have practically nothing to do with no matter whether she is trans or not, Harper and other professionals stated. But they, along with other trans athletes, stated they weren’t shocked to see Ryan come beneath attack just for carrying out nicely and becoming proud of it.

“As a trans individual, it is OK for you to participate as extended as you are not winning, but the moment you develop into celebrated it becomes a difficulty and you develop into a monster,” stated Navi Huskey, who knowledgeable that firsthand in the course of two seasons on the Extended Beach City College basketball group, even as she took on the part model mantle for other trans athletes. “It was like, be fantastic, but then you are becoming as well fantastic, so that is a difficulty.”

Attain Erin Allday: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday