‘I’ve just been retired’: transgender women banned from women’s darts competitions

“Apparently I have just been retired, not by choice, but because I am no longer allowed to participate.” It is with these words that Noa-Lynn van Leuven, a 29-year-old Dutch athlete, begins her video posted this Thursday on social networks.

A message released following the decision by the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) on Thursday to ban transgender women from participating in women’s darts competitions.

The body explains in a press release that it “started in 2025 a review of its policy relating to transgender and gender diverse people”, and that it commissioned a report from a biologist specializing in gender and sport issues.

“A male advantage over women”

In this report, Dr Emma Hilton argues that “multiple small-magnitude sex differences accumulate to generate a male advantage over females in darts”.

For her, the darts are therefore “a gender-influenced sport » within the meaning of the Equality Act, an English law of 2010, which provides that these sports are those “in which the physical strength, endurance or morphology of people of a given sex, considered as an average, would place them in a disadvantageous situation compared to people of the other sex, considered as an average, when they compete in events relating to this activity”.

According to the report, “Men’s physical advantages include taller height, longer limbs, broader shoulders, greater muscle mass and stronger tendons. These factors improve range of motion, stability and throwing technique, which impacts consistency and accuracy. »

This decision taken with immediate effect therefore concerns transgender athletes in darts, including Noa-Lynn van Leuven, the first transgender woman to take part in competitions at the highest level, notably the PDC world championship, which will therefore now be impossible for her.

“A new blow for the transgender community”

“I simply received an e-mail,” she regretted in her speech on social networks. I worked so hard for years just to get to this point. I was there and I competed. I respected this sport in every match and every day. »

Van Leuven, and the other athletes concerned, will still be eligible for “open” darts tournaments, open to everyone regardless of gender or level. But she will no longer be able to participate in competitions in the women’s categories.

“Today, with the wave of a magic wand, I am told that I no longer have my place. It’s not just about me, it’s another blow to the transgender community. Especially after the recent decisions taken by the IOC. Every day it becomes more difficult for transgender people to simply exist, to compete. If you think it ends with me, think again. We just want to exist. »

This decision actually comes a few days after the IOC’s decision, which caused a lot of noise, to reintroduce femininity tests in the run-up to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. A highly controversial decision, while the Paris 2024 Games had been marked by the wave of cyberharassment and disinformation suffered by the Algerian boxer and Olympic champion Imane Khelif, accused of being a man by the complostist spheres.