IOC bars transgender women from Olympics with new gene-testing policy

IOC Bans Transgender and DSD Athletes From Women’s Olympic Events

The International Olympic Committee on Thursday approved a sweeping new eligibility policy that bars transgender women and athletes with differences in sex development from competing in women’s events at the Olympics, a move that will take effect at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.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 said, “determined on the basis of a one-time SRY gene screening”.espn

A New Era for Olympic Eligibility

The policy, outlined in a 10-page document published after an executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, also restricts female athletes with medical conditions known as differences in sex development, a category that includes two-time Olympic 800-meter champion Caster Semenya. The IOC said the policy “protects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category” and noted it is not retroactive and does not apply to grassroots or recreational sports.nytimes

The document details the IOC’s research finding that being born male confers lasting physical advantages. “Males experience three significant testosterone peaks: in utero, in mini-puberty of infancy and beginning in adolescent puberty through adulthood,” the policy states, noting these give males “individual sex-based performance advantages in sports and events that rely on strength, power and/or endurance”.espn

The decision aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on women’s sports, which directed the State Department to push the IOC to amend its eligibility standards ahead of the LA Games.yourvalley

Path to the Decision

IOC President Kirsty Coventry, the first woman to lead the Olympic body in its 132-year history, made protecting the women’s category one of her first priorities after taking office last June. She established a “Protection of the Female Category” working group in September 2025, composed of experts and representatives from international federations. In December, she set a target of early 2026 for a final decision.espn

The ruling follows a trail blazed by individual sports federations. World Athletics introduced mandatory SRY gene testing for all female athletes ahead of the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. World Aquatics, cycling, rugby, and boxing had already adopted their own restrictions on transgender participation.espn

Controversy and Context

The policy arrives amid fierce debate. Just last week, more than 80 human rights and sport advocacy groups called on the IOC to abandon reported plans for genetic testing, warning the measures would represent a “catastrophic erosion of women’s rights and safety,” according to the Sport & Rights Alliance.gmanetwork

It is unclear how many transgender women currently compete at the Olympic level. No athlete who transitioned from male to female competed at the 2024 Paris Summer Games. The Paris boxing events nonetheless drew intense scrutiny over the eligibility of Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting — neither of whom is transgender but whose cases highlighted the complexity of existing rules.ministryofsport