US EditionIOC Sets New Female Eligibility Rules Excluding Transgender Women for 2028 Olympics
The IOC's new policy excludes transgender women and most athletes with differences in sex development, applying a one-time SRY gene test to safeguard fairness and safety in female sports.
- On Thursday, IOC President Kirsty Coventry announced that transgender women are now excluded from Olympic female categories effective at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, with eligibility limited to biological females verified via a one-time SRY gene screening.
- Controversies at the 2024 Paris Olympics involving boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting intensified scrutiny after World Athletics and World Aquatics restricted transgender athletes in September 2024, prompting Coventry's formal review of 'protecting the female category' in June 2025.
- Coventry stated the policy 'is based on science and has been led by medical experts,' with IOC documents noting males experience testosterone peaks from infancy through adulthood, creating 'individual sex-based performance advantages' in strength, power and endurance.
- The IOC will implement uniform standards across all international sports federations, ending the era where individual governing bodies like swimming and cycling drafted their own disparate eligibility rules, though specific SRY screening logistics remain undetailed.
- A 2024 study funded in part by the IOC directly contradicts the policy's scientific rationale and cautioned against bans, while no transgender women competed at the 2024 Paris Games, leaving real-world impact uncertain as genetic testing returns to Olympics for the first time since 1996.
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313 Articles
Olympics-IOC’s gender policy divides opinion as supporters and critics clash
By Lori Ewing and Iain Axon LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) – Reactions to the International Olympic Committee’s new policy on gender testing were sharply divided on Thursday, with supporters hailing a long‑overdue move to protect women’s sport and critics warning it risks stigma and harm to young athletes. Supporters of the decision said it was essential for the governing body to reassert the importance of a protected female category and to provide …
Transgender athletes are excluded from female testing at the Olympic Games after the IOC agreed on Thursday on a new eligibility policy that conforms to U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on sports in the face of the Los Angeles Games 2028. “The eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological women,” said the International Olympic…
White House responds to IOC policy change to ban males from women’s sports as activists celebrate
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to news that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) updated its policies to ensure only biological females compete in women’s sports, and will use genetic testing as enforcement. Leavitt credited Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order for the change. “You cannot change your sex. President Trump’s Executive Order protecting …
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