You also need to consider lung capacity, lactic acid build up in muscles, or some freak mutations that could give you an edge over others, etc. So while it would be desirable to have everyone on the same level and let those with the better technique win, it just isn’t realistically enforceable because of the sheer amount of factors that need to be checked. Like if someone has 10% more lung volume than others, how do you group those athletes? Do you place them in a higher muscle group to balance it out or do you create new ones based on all those different factors? And what about sports that demand more endurance than strength? They would all need their own classification system which would be a organizational nightmare, especially when we go into team sports.
Thus grouping by testosterone levels (and in some sports weight) is probably the best compromize between fairness and practicability which is why it’s being used by pretty much all sports organizitaions. I just wish they would do it regardless of gender because currently if you’re a man, you’re not allowed to compete with women even if your testosterone levels are lower which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me and also puts intersex people in a weird spot.
I've heard the take that sports should be grouped based on muscle mass instead of gender. Is this a good, bad, or irrelevant take?
You also need to consider lung capacity, lactic acid build up in muscles, or some freak mutations that could give you an edge over others, etc. So while it would be desirable to have everyone on the same level and let those with the better technique win, it just isn’t realistically enforceable because of the sheer amount of factors that need to be checked. Like if someone has 10% more lung volume than others, how do you group those athletes? Do you place them in a higher muscle group to balance it out or do you create new ones based on all those different factors? And what about sports that demand more endurance than strength? They would all need their own classification system which would be a organizational nightmare, especially when we go into team sports.
Thus grouping by testosterone levels (and in some sports weight) is probably the best compromize between fairness and practicability which is why it’s being used by pretty much all sports organizitaions. I just wish they would do it regardless of gender because currently if you’re a man, you’re not allowed to compete with women even if your testosterone levels are lower which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me and also puts intersex people in a weird spot.
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