Transgender Women Excluded from the 2028 L.A. Olympics Due to New IOC Policy

Transgender women athletes will be barred from competing in the Olympics starting with the 2028 Los Angeles Games, following the implementation of a new eligibility policy by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday.

The IOC’s revised guidelines stipulate that eligibility for women’s events will now hinge on a one-time mandatory genetics test, which can be conducted via saliva, a cheek swab, or a blood sample. This decision arrives after no transgender women competed in the women’s categories at the upcoming 2024 Paris Summer Games, and the current status of transgender women in Olympic sports remains unclear. The policy aligns closely with a recent executive order by President Trump that restricts transgender athletes’ participation in women’s or girls’ sports in the United States.

According to the IOC, the new policy does not apply retroactively and is exclusively focused on Olympic events, leaving recreational sports programs unaffected. In a statement, the IOC emphasized that the policy aims to ensure fairness, safety, and integrity in the female category, now defining eligibility strictly for biological females.

Previously, the determination of entry for transgender women into women’s categories was left to individual sports federations, with the IOC providing only guidance. Sports such as track and field, boxing, swimming, and rugby have established their own restrictions regarding transgender participation.

The IOC Executive Board endorsed this new eligibility policy after an 18-month review. The approach mirrors the guidelines approved by the World Athletics Council in June, focusing on the detection of the SRY gene to ascertain eligibility for the female category. This gene, which resides on the Y chromosome, plays a crucial role in male sex development. Athletes who test negative for the SRY gene will be permitted to compete in women’s sports.

Jane Thornton, the IOC’s medical and scientific director, previously presented findings indicating that athletes assigned male at birth could retain physical advantages, even after undergoing testosterone-reduction treatment.

Kirsty Coventry, the recently elected first woman president of the IOC and a former gold-medal swimmer, has campaigned for the protection of women’s sports. She stated, “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.”