Olympics cave to Trump, banning transgender women from competition

The International Olympic Committee has approved a new policy restricting participation in women’s events to athletes deemed “biological females,” a decision set to take effect at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and expected to exclude transgender women while expanding scrutiny of athletes’ bodies.

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“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 in announcing the rule.

The policy establishes a new eligibility standard based on a one-time genetic screening for the SRY gene, which is typically associated with male sex development. Athletes who test negative would be cleared to compete in women’s events, while those who test positive would be barred, with limited exceptions for some athletes with specific intersex variations.

“Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene permanently satisfy this policy’s eligibility criteria for competition in the female category,” an announcement from the IOC reads. “Unless there is reason to believe that a negative reading is in error, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime test.”

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The move follows mounting political pressure in the United States as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Games. President Donald Trump said earlier this year that transgender athletes could be denied visas to enter the country for competition and signed an executive order aimed at barring transgender women from participating in women’s sports domestically.

Advocacy groups quickly condemned the decision, warning that the policy extends beyond transgender athletes and could subject all women competitors to invasive scrutiny.

interACT, which advocates for intersex youth, said the policy “discriminates against transgender and intersex athletes through mandated sex testing that invades the privacy and dignity of all women athletes.” The group added that while the IOC carved out narrow exceptions for some intersex athletes with specific variations, many others would still be excluded.

“This is a devastating day for women athletes, who deserve to play the sport they love free from invasive sex testing, discrimination, and public scrutiny,” said Erika Lorshbough. They added that requiring athletes to undergo genetic screening forces women to surrender “personal medical and genetic information” to prove they are “woman enough” to compete. “Any policy that intends to discriminate against transgender athletes also harms intersex women, especially those with chromosomal and hormonal variations.”

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The IOC has not previously imposed an outright ban on transgender athletes across all sports, instead allowing international federations to set their own eligibility rules. In recent years, several sports, including track and field, cycling, and swimming, have adopted restrictions barring transgender women who experienced male puberty from competing in women’s categories.

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first out transgender woman to compete at the Games, a milestone that drew global attention and debate.

The new policy could also intensify scrutiny of cisgender women athletes. During the 2024 Olympics, Algerian boxing gold medalist Imane Khelif faced widespread speculation about her gender, fueled in part by a disputed decision from the International Boxing Association to disqualify her from a prior competition based on undisclosed testing. The governing body did not publicly release the results, and critics said the episode illustrated how sex verification policies can be used to police women’s bodies more broadly.

Under the IOC’s new framework, athletes would generally undergo the SRY screening once, with results considered permanent unless there is reason to believe an error occurred. The policy includes limited exceptions for some athletes with differences of sex development, including those with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, but maintains that competitors who test positive for the SRY gene are not eligible for women’s events.

The rule is not retroactive and will not affect medals or records from previous Olympic Games.