MORE elite female athletes support competitors with differences of sexual development (DSD) being allowed in women’s sports than oppose it, according to a new study.

People with a DSD do not always develop along typical male-female lines. Their hormones, genes and reproductive organs may be a mix of male and female characteristics.

Researchers said 43 per cent of 147 athletes felt it was fair for DSD athletes to take part in women’s contact sports and sports reliant on physical capacity such as sprinting, compared to 36 per cent who said it was unfair.