Semenya calls IOC transgender ban ‘a lie,’ rips Coventry

IOC Bans Transgender Women From Female Olympic Events

The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced a sweeping new policy barring transgender women from competing in women’s events at the Olympics and all IOC-sanctioned competitions, effective from the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The decision, which also restricts athletes with differences in sex development, drew sharp criticism from two-time Olympic 800-meter champion Caster Semenya, who on Sunday called the ruling “a lie” and expressed deep disappointment with IOC President Kirsty Coventry.

A New Era of Genetic Testing

Under the policy, titled “Protection of the Female (Women’s) Category in Olympic Sport,” eligibility for any female-category event will be determined by a one-time screening for the SRY gene, found on the Y chromosome. Athletes who test positive for the gene will be barred from women’s events but may compete in male, mixed, or open categories. The test can be administered via saliva, cheek swab, or blood sample.espn

“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 females,” the IOC stated in its 10-page policy document. Coventry, who was elected as the first female IOC president in June 2025, defended the decision, saying in a video statement that “it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category” and that the policy was “based on science and has been led by medical experts”.essentiallysports

The policy also affects athletes with differences in sex development who test SRY-positive, with narrow exceptions for conditions such as complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. The IOC said the rules are not retroactive and do not apply to grassroots or recreational sports.olympics

Semenya Fires Back

Speaking at a press conference in Cape Town on Sunday, Semenya directed her frustration squarely at Coventry, a fellow African and former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe. “For her being a woman coming from Africa, knowing how African women or women in the global South are affected by that, of course, it causes harm,” Semenya told reporters, according to the Associated Press.bastillepost

Semenya, who was assigned female at birth but has naturally elevated testosterone levels, has been barred from her specialist 800-meter event since 2019 after refusing to take medication to lower her hormone levels. She dismissed the IOC’s scientific justification outright: “If the science is clear, show us who decided and don’t dress that as a lie because it’s a lie”. In an exclusive Sky News interview, she called the policy “nonsense” and urged women athletes to mount a class-action challenge.sky

Reaction From All Sides

American middle-distance runner Nikki Hiltz, who is transgender and nonbinary and competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, wrote on Instagram that the policy “is so f—ing stupid and not solving a problem that exists,” noting that no transgender women competed in Paris. France’s Sports Minister Marina Ferrari called the return to genetic testing “a step backwards” that raises “ethical, legal, and medical questions”.yahoo

The White House, meanwhile, celebrated the decision. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt credited President Donald Trump’s executive order on women’s sports, writing on X: “President Trump’s Executive Order protecting women’s sports made this happen!” The IOC made no reference to the U.S. president in its announcement.time