Fair Games

 Fair Games

Steven B. Zwickel

January, 2025

There has been a lot in the news this past year about whether it is fair to let transgender athletes compete against people who remain the same sex they were at birth, particularly in certain sports where physical strength plays a significant role. For example, males typically have greater muscle mass and bone density than females, which could give transgender women a physical advantage even after hormone therapy.

It seems wrong to deny anyone a chance to compete just because they have changed from one sex to another. But the real problem is how to be inclusive without giving anyone an unfair advantage. 

Could we follow the lead of boxing and wrestling, where athletes are assigned to different weight classes and compete against people in the same class? A weigh-in is held before a competition to ensure that each athlete's body weight is within the limits of his or her weight class. Granted, this attempt to be fair-er  is far from perfect and some coaches, and some athletes, have figured out ways to “game” the system. 

One way to solve this problem would be to use a mathematical approach. What if we used a formula for classifying athletes by more than just their weight? What if we were to multiply weight times height times age to get a numerical competition classification number {CN} for young athletes? A range of CNs could be used to create CN classes of athletes who are relatively similar.

To make the system even fairer, we could use a fourth multiplier that could reflect something like body fat percentage1 or power-to-weight ratio2. 

[Body Mass Index (BMI)3, something many people are familiar with, would be a good choice for the fourth multiplier, except that it is only useful for adults and doesn’t apply to children or adolescents who are still growing.]

The only real drawback to the CN system would be that it would probably require using the metric system, which is still unfamiliar to many Americans.

 Thus, W (in kilograms) X H (in centimeters) X Age (in months) X Body Fat Percentage in %) = CN. 

Athletes with similar CNs would be in one CN class, regardless of gender. Girls could play against boys in the same CN class, etc.

Problem solved.

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1 Body fat percentage is the total mass of fat divided by total body mass, multiplied by 100. 

2 To calculate a person's power-to-weight ratio, you divide their maximum power output (measured in watts) by their body weight (in kilograms), resulting in a value expressed as "watts per kilogram" (W/kg). 

3 BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters