Transgender female athletes have been banned from competing in all women’s events at the Olympics. This is in accordance with an executive order issued by US President Donald Trump ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Last Updated: 03/26/26 1:39 PM
The IOC said its qualification policy “protects the fairness, safety and integrity of the women’s sector.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned transgender women from competing in all women’s sports.
This restriction applies to qualifications for all women’s category events at the Olympic Games or other IOC events, including individual and team sports.
Now they are limited to biological women, which is determined based on a one-time genetic test.
The organization’s new policy is consistent with U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on women’s sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
It’s unclear how many transgender women are competing at the Olympic level. Women who were born male and then transitioned will not participate in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
“The qualification policy, which will apply from the Los Angeles Olympics in July 2028, protects the fairness, safety and integrity of the women’s sector,” the IOC said.
“This is not retroactive and does not apply to any grassroots or recreational sports programs,” the IOC said. The IOC has an Olympic charter that states that access to sporting activities is a human right.
Following an executive committee meeting, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) released a 10-page policy document restricting female athletes like Olympic champion Caster Semenya who have a condition known as differences in sexual development (DSD).
The IOC and its president, Kirsty Coventry, wanted a clear policy rather than continuing to advise the sport’s governing body, which had previously drafted its own rules.
Coventry last June set a review into ‘protecting the women’s sector’ as one of her first big decisions as the first female leader in the 132-year history of the Olympic organisation.
Women’s qualifications were a strong theme in last year’s seven-candidate IOC election, with Coventry’s main rivals promising stronger policies to lead on the issue.
Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the three major sports – track and field, swimming, and cycling – have already passed regulations excluding transgender women who have gone through male puberty.
The IOC document details research showing that being born male maintains a physical advantage.
“Men experience three major testosterone peaks: in utero, during puberty during infancy, and during adolescent puberty into adulthood,” the document states.
This gives men “an individual gender-based performance advantage in sports and events that rely on strength, power and/or endurance,” it added.
