IOC bans transgender women from participating in Olympic Games
Kyiv • UNN
The International Olympic Committee has restricted the women's category to biological women based on the SRY gene test. The new rules will be in effect starting from the 2028 Olympic Games.
Transgender women athletes are now barred from women's competitions at the Olympic Games after the IOC on Thursday approved a new eligibility policy that aligns with US President Donald Trump's decree on sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games. This was reported by CNN, writes UNN.
Eligibility for any women's category at the Olympic Games or any other IOC events, including individual and team sports, is now restricted to biological women, as determined by a one-time SRY gene test.
As the publication notes, it is unclear how many transgender women, if any, compete at the Olympic level. No woman who transitioned after being born male participated in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, although weightlifter Laurel Hubbard competed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics without winning a medal.
The eligibility policy, which will take effect from the Los Angeles Olympic Games in July 2028, "protects fairness, safety, and integrity in the women's category," the IOC said.
It is not retroactive and does not apply to mass or amateur sports programs
Following an executive board meeting, the International Olympic Committee released a 10-page policy document that also restricts the participation of some female athletes, including two-time Olympic runner Caster Semenya, who has medical conditions known as differences in sex development (DSD).
The IOC and its president, Kirsty Coventry, sought a clear policy instead of the previous practice of providing recommendations to sports federations, which then developed their own rules.
At the Olympic Games, even the smallest difference can determine victory or defeat. Therefore, it is absolutely clear that it would be unfair for biological males to compete in the women's category.
She initiated a review of the policy to "protect the women's category" as one of her first major decisions last June, becoming the first woman to head the IOC in its 132-year history.
The issue of women's eligibility was a key topic in last year's IOC elections, which followed controversy surrounding women's boxing in Paris, with Coventry's rivals promising tougher policies.
Before the 2024 Paris Olympics, three leading sports — athletics, swimming, and cycling — already excluded transgender women who had undergone male puberty. Semenya, who was born female in South Africa and has naturally high testosterone levels, won a case in the European Court of Human Rights in her long-running legal battle, although this did not lead to a reversal of the rules.
The IOC document states that being born male provides physical advantages that persist.
Males experience three significant testosterone peaks: before birth, in early childhood, and during adolescence, which continues into adulthood.
This, it notes, provides "individual advantages in sports performance related to sex, especially in sports requiring strength, power, and endurance."
The IOC reported that an expert group agreed that the current genetic test is "the most accurate and least invasive method available today." It involves checking for the presence of the SRY gene — a segment of DNA typically found on the Y chromosome that triggers male development before birth.
At the same time, mandatory gender testing — already used by athletics, skiing, and boxing federations — is likely to face criticism from human rights activists and public organizations.
One of the two boxing champions at the center of the gender dispute in Paris, Lin Yu-ting from Taiwan, underwent a genetic test and can return to competition, the international boxing federation announced.
Addition
In the US, President Donald Trump signed an executive order "Do Not Allow Men into Women's Sports" last February and promised to deny visas to some athletes attempting to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics. The order also provided for the deprivation of funding for organizations that allow transgender athletes to participate in women's competitions.
Months later, the US Olympic Committee updated its guidelines for national sports bodies, citing the obligation to adhere to White House policy.