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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will enact a new policy that will ban transgender athletes from competing against biological women, according to multiple reports. The policy is reportedly intended to cover those with differences in sexual development (DSD).
Current IOC policy leaves it up to the governing body of each individual sport to formulate policies regulating transgender athletes. But as the IOC changed its leadership, the Times of London reported Monday that its policies will change too.
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A general view of the Olympic rings in front of the Olympia delle Tofane ski slope during the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 – 1 year event for the event on February 6, 2025 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. (Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images)
IOC President Kirsty Coventry called for “protecting” the women’s category in June and there was “overwhelming support” from IOC members to do the same.
“We understand there will be differences depending on the sport… but members made it very clear that we have to protect the women’s category, first and foremost to ensure fairness,” Coventry said at the time.
“But we have to do it with a scientific approach and the inclusion of international federations that have already done a lot of work in this area.”
The next policy change will likely be announced at the IOC session in February ahead of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy and will follow a presentation by Dr. Jane Thornton, the IOC’s medical and scientific director, last week, according to The Times.
Kirsty Coventry reacts after being announced as the new IOC president at the 144th session of the International Olympic Committee in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
THE NEW HEAD OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES ASKS TO ‘PROTECT’ THE FEMALE CATEGORY AMID THE WORLDWIDE WAVE OF TRANS ATHLETES
Thornton’s presentation reportedly showed that there were physical advantages in men, including those taking treatments to reduce testosterone levels. A source told the newspaper that the presentation was “very scientific” and unemotional.
Athletes with DSD (those who were raised female but were born with male traits) will be covered by the new policy, according to The Times. Olympic boxing had two major controversies over athletes who previously failed gender tests.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting won gold medals in their respective weight classes in the women’s division despite major uproar. Khelif has insisted they were women. Lin has not commented on the controversy since the Olympics ended.
Imane Khelif (red) of team Algeria competes against Anna Luca Hamori (blue) of team Hungary in the women’s 66 kg quarterfinal boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte, France, on August 3, 2024. Khelif wins the match and advanced to the semifinals. (Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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World Boxing has since implemented mandatory sex testing for its competitors and Khelif will not be able to compete unless testing is completed.
Pak Gazette Digital has contacted the IOC for comment.
