The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned all transgender women from competing in the female category of events starting from the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The new policy document was approved by the IOC executive board at its headquarters in Lausanne on Thursday. It will also require future participants in the female category to undergo a one-off gene screening test to detect and confirm their biological sex.
It follows an 18-month review of the previous IOC policy on transgender participation following the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
It is the first decision of real consequence made by Kirsty Coventry, the former Olympic gold medal swimmer from Zimbabwe who this time last year was elected as the IOC’s first woman president.
READ MORE
“The policy that we have announced is based on science and has been led by medical experts,” said Coventry. “At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”
The policy will also apply to athletes with differences in sex development (DSDs), and will need to be adopted by all national Olympic federations and other sports governing bodies when exercising their responsibility in implementing eligibility rules in relation to IOC events. However, it does not apply to any grassroots or recreational sports programmes.
The Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI) has given its support to the new policy, saying: “We welcome the clarity provided by the IOC that should bring about a more uniform approach at elite level across Olympic sports.”
Previously, the IOC had permitted transgender women to compete with reduced testosterone levels, leaving the final decision to individual sports federations. In outlining its new policy, the IOC said that transgender women and athletes with DSD still retain certain advantages after going through male puberty, including “a 10-12 per cent male performance advantage in most running and swimming events”.
World Athletics had already announced a similar policy around the female category, moving away from testosterone-based eligibility thresholds, and also adopting the one-off gene screening test, using saliva, a cheek swab, or a blood sample.
The Federation of Irish Sport, which represents 81 national governing bodies, has yet to canvas its members on the IOC announcement.
