as i said before, i'm no expert..but in all the studies i've seen is reported that science still doesn't know exactly what is the precise cause of the blatant difference in physical performance between genders.
testosterone is an obvious suspect but apparently science still doesn't know exactly if it is the only culprit and if the effects it has on the body gets reduced, and by how much, if not completely eliminated, when you artificially stop the production of it through the usual hormone therapy given during change.
a reduction in the muscular tone is definitely there, at least according to the studies i've read, but no scientist, at least in the studies i've read, has been able to measure if that reduction really brings an ex male to the level of a woman athlete.
and of course there are several other biological differences between male and female that can be equally as relevant..but since we have very little transgender athletes and even less of them that are available for prolonged testing and comparison from when they were of the opposite gender, scienntists are still being cautious to emit any sentence.
are those politically motivated? frankly i don't know, but since they are scientist that studied this sector and I am a no one, i'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I only even read all those studies because during a similiar thread on era an user linked all of them as supporting his thesis...maybe without thinking that someone would actually take the time to read them line by line and discover that most of them were inconclusive and only on the basis of that inconclusiveness suggested that since we have no proof of an advantage, we had no reason to deny them the right to compete in their new genre's cathegory..but also clearly said that more research was needed before we can give any kind of blanket assessment on the matter.
