Sharron Davies has competed in an uneven field. She explains to Martyn Ziegler why she wants strict controls on transgender athletes.
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We meet on a cloudless day in Bath, near to where Davies, 56, lives. She is accompanied by Grace, her 20-year-old daughter, a former British junior heptathlete, from her marriage to Derek Redmond, who won a 4x400m gold medal at the 1991 world championships. Five weeks have passed since Davies was inspired by Martina Navratilova's column on the issue of transgender sport in The Sunday Times to join forces with Dame Kelly Holmes and Paula Radcliffe to ensure that British athletes are heard. Tessa Sanderson, Daley Thompson and Carl Froch are among those to have signed.
"I saw Martina's column, and spoke to Kelly and to Paula and all of us were, "Oh my goodness, we need to stand up and be counted on this", Davies says. "I don't think people realised how the rules changed in 2015. I believe it was stealthily done. There is the potential to seriously ruin sport for females. I think, who is protecting the females and standing up for female sport? I know what it feels like to be standing on the block next to someone you know has an unfair advantage. That injustice is ingrained in me and makes me more determined to have a voice in this."
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One argument is that the number of trans women who want to compete in elite sport is so tiny that they should be encouraged. But Davies says that it is a matter of time before a country decides to exploit the rules. She points out that in 17 American states, teenagers only need to identify as a girl to take part in female races, something that could lead to lucrative college scholarships.
"It is about the potential for the abuse of the system which has not been looked at", she says. "We have countries in the world that don't care quite how they earn their medals, we know that from history and from what the Russians did at Sochi in 2014. So, if you have a rule that says people don't have to have surgery any more, only have to self-identify and have reduced testosterone for one year, and who is monitoring that? They can turn up at the Olympics and compete in a women's event."
"If I was Vladimir Putin I would be picking out my tenth and 12th-best male athletes and saying, "Right, you can go and bring back a big old sack of medals from women's sport and you wouldn't be breaking any rules". We know from East Germany the lengths people will go to. Their athletes were put on these terrible drugs through puberty which has given them some terrible health issues now. They were victims as well, as they were probably given little choice."
Finding a solution is less straightforward but Davies believes that the beginning should be protecting women's sport. "This was a kneejerk reaction by the IOC before the proper research has been done and they need to go back to the old guidelines and do the research", she says.
"In terms of competition, perhaps you have an open class for everyone with XY chromosomes, and a protected class for XX. Maybe the pride games [the Gay Games, a multi-sport event held every four years] needs to grow and the transgender community looked after more there. I have no problem with people being transgender and I want to help them participate in sport, but as a mum and a former athlete I also want to protect sport for young women."
