New policy ensures only female athletes can compete in women’s Olympic events
Caroline MolloyMale athletes who identify as “transgender” women can no longer compete in female events at the Olympics under a new International Olympic Committee (IOC) policy announced March 26, ending years of controversy that had allowed men to displace female athletes on the world’s biggest stage.
“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, adding that the policy “protects fairness, safety, and integrity in the female category.”
The policy — which will take effect for the 2028 Los Angeles Games — bases eligibility on a one-time SRY gene screening test that determines whether an athlete possesses a male Y chromosome. It allows narrow exceptions in rare cases of differences of sex development, such as complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, in which testosterone does not confer a performance advantage.
IOC President Kirsty Coventry said the decision rests on scientific evidence showing that male puberty confers lasting physical advantages in sports.
“At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat,” she said. “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.”
On its website, the IOC said it adopted the policy after an 18-month review. It replaces the previous framework that left eligibility decisions to individual international sports federations. Some federations — including those governing track and field, swimming, and cycling — had already barred male athletes who had gone through male puberty.
