GENEVA (AP) 鈥� Transgender women athletes are now excluded from women’s events at the Olympics after the IOC agreed to a new eligibility policy on Thursday which aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 on sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
鈥淓ligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females,鈥� the International Olympic Committee said, to be determined by a mandatory gene test once in an athlete’s career.
It is unclear how many, if any, transgender women are competing at an Olympic level. No woman who transitioned from being born male competed at the 2024 Paris Summer Games, though did at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 without winning a medal.
The eligibility policy that will apply from the L.A. Olympics in July 2028 鈥減rotects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category,鈥� the IOC said.
鈥淚t is not retroactive and does not apply to any grassroots or recreational sports programs,鈥� said the IOC, whose states that access to play sport is a human right.
After an executive board meeting, the IOC published a that also restricts female athletes such as two-time Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya with medical conditions known as differences in sex development, or DSD.
鈥淲e know that this topic is sensitive,鈥� IOC President Kirsty Coventry said in an online news conference to explain the policy.
Coventry and the IOC have wanted a clear policy instead of continuing to advise sports鈥� governing bodies who previously have drafted their own rules.
鈥淎t the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat,鈥� Coventry, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, said in a statement. 鈥淪o, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category.鈥�
She set up a review of 鈥減rotecting the female category鈥� as one of her first big decisions last June as the in its 132-year history.
Female eligibility was a strong theme in a last year 鈥� held after a in Paris 鈥� when Coventry鈥檚 main rivals pledged a stronger policy to leading on the issue.
鈥淭his was a priority for me way before President Trump came into his second term,” Coventry said. “There鈥檚 not been any pressure (on) us to deliver anything from anybody outside of the Olympic Movement.鈥�
Before the 2024 Paris Olympics, three top-tier sports 鈥� , swimming and cycling 鈥� excluded transgender women who had been through male puberty. Semenya, who was assigned female at birth in South Africa and has testosterone levels higher than the typical female range, in her years-long legal challenge to track and field’s rules which did not overturn them.
Performance advantage from testosterone
The IOC document details its research that being born male gives physical advantages that a working group of experts believes are retained.
“Males experience three significant testosterone peaks: In utero, in mini-puberty of infancy and beginning in adolescent puberty through adulthood,” the document said.
It added this gives males 鈥渋ndividual sex-based performance advantages in sports and events that rely on strength, power and/or endurance.鈥�
The IOC said its research included 鈥渋n-depth individual interviews with impacted athletes from around the world.鈥�
The expert group agreed the current gene test is 鈥渢he most accurate and least intrusive method currently available.鈥� The saliva, cheek swab or blood sample screens for 鈥渢he SRY gene, a segment of DNA typically found on the Y chromosome that initiates male sex development in utero and indicates the presence of testes/testicles.鈥�
Still, the mandatory gender screening 鈥� already conducted by the governing bodies of track and field, and boxing 鈥� is likely to be criticized by human rights experts and activist groups.
Athlete appeal to CAS?
The IOC policy can 鈥� and likely will 鈥� be challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the Olympic body’s Swiss home city Lausanne, perhaps by an athlete acting alone.
Track athletes of India and Semenya challenged previous versions of their sport’s eligibility rules at the court.
Any potential appeal would examine science underpinning IOC research which was not published Thursday. A case could occupy much of the near-28 months until the L.A. Olympics open.
鈥淎s we know in today鈥檚 world,” Coventry said, “any and all rules and regulations at any point in time could always be challenged.鈥�
Women’s boxing champions
One of the two women’s boxing gold medalists at the center of the gender controversy in Paris, Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, has and can return to competition, the World Boxing governing body said last week.
The other Olympic boxing champion, Imane Khelif of Algeria, she would take a gene test to be eligible for the L.A. Olympics. She is reportedly preparing for a professional bout next month in Paris.
The IOC document published on Thursday said the male performance advantage over biological women was 鈥�10-12% in most running and swimming events,鈥� at least 20% in 鈥渕ost throwing and jumping events鈥� but 鈥渃an be greater than 100%鈥� for explosive power events including 鈥減unching sports.鈥�
Trump’s executive order
In the U.S., President Trump signed the executive order 鈥淜eeping Men Out of Women鈥檚 Sports鈥� in February last year, and pledged to deny visas to some athletes attempting to compete at the L.A Olympics. The order also threatened to 鈥渞escind all funds鈥� from organizations that allowed transgender athletes to take part in women鈥檚 sports.
Within months the to national sports bodies citing an obligation to comply with the White House.
The White House welcomed the IOC’s decision, describing it as the result of the executive order.
鈥淭he IOC aligning their policy with President Trump鈥檚 executive order ahead of the 2028 LA Games is common sense and long overdue,鈥� White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement.
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