IOC: "Women's Events Only for Biological Women"...Transgender Athletes Banned from Competing in Women's Category

IOC Adopts Policy to Protect Women in Sports
Implementation Begins with LA Olympics
"Measures for Fairness"

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s events starting with the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics in the United States.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) building in Lausanne, Switzerland. Photo by Reuters.

According to Yonhap News, the IOC announced on the 26th (local time) that its Executive Board had adopted a policy to protect the women's category in sports. Under the new policy, eligibility for all women’s events (including both individual and team competitions) at the Olympics and other IOC events will be granted exclusively to biological women. This policy will be implemented starting with the 2028 LA Olympics and will not be applied retroactively. It will also not apply to amateur or recreational sports programs.

The IOC will use a single SRY gene test (a gene on the Y chromosome responsible for male characteristics) to determine whether an athlete has undergone male sexual development. If the test result is negative, the athlete will permanently meet the eligibility requirements for women’s events.

Conversely, if the result is positive, the athlete will be barred from competing in the women’s category at IOC-hosted events, except in rare cases where the individual is diagnosed with a different disorder of sex development (DSD). The IOC explained, "Athletes who test positive in the SRY test can participate in all men's events, male positions in mixed teams, all open categories, or in sports that do not classify athletes by gender."

The IOC emphasized that the new criteria are intended to ensure fairness, safety, and integrity in the women’s category. IOC member Kirsty Coventry stated, "At the Olympics, extremely small differences in performance can determine victory or defeat. It is clear that allowing biological males to compete in the women’s category is unfair," adding, "In some sports, this is even directly related to athlete safety."

Since becoming the first female leader in IOC history in June last year, Coventry has led the development of the new transgender policy. Immediately after taking office, she established a 'working group for the protection of women’s events' and began developing standards for fair competition together with experts and representatives from various sports federations.

2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist Algerian boxer Iman Khalif. Instagram

Meanwhile, with the IOC announcing the new eligibility requirements for female athletes, the policy is now aligned with regulations in the United States, which is hosting the LA Olympics. In February last year, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order to "exclude men from women’s sports," and subsequently, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announced measures prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in women’s events at U.S. competitions.

Previously, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, there was controversy over the gender eligibility of boxing gold medalists Imane Khalif (Algeria) and Lin Yuting (Taiwan). The two athletes had been disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) at the previous year’s World Championships because they were found to possess 'XY chromosomes,' indicating biological maleness. At that time, however, the IOC maintained that Olympic participation would be based on the gender listed in an athlete's passport and recognized both Lin Yuting and Khalif as women, raising no objections to their participation in women’s events.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.