Use of event-specific tertiles to analyse the relationship between serum androgens and athletic performance in women.

Bermon and Garnier1 summarised their recent findings by stating that in 5 of 21 events, ‘female athletes with high testosterone levels benefit from a 1.8% to 4.5% competitive advantage over other female competitors with normal androgen levels’. As the authors did not divide female athletes into comparison groups based on a value of free testosterone (fT) determined a priori to be ‘high’, the study’s design does not allow for this conclusion. Given the authors contextualise the study using the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) suspension of the International Association …