Transgender women banned from female events at Olympics

Transgender women and DSD athletes are now excluded from competing in female events at the Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee has said that ahead of the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, ‘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, determined on the basis of a one time SRY gene screening.’

The SRY screening is conducted via a saliva test, cheek swab or blood sample and will be a ‘once-in-a-lifetime test’, according to the IOC.

At the 2021 Games in Tokyo, New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender woman to compete at an Olympics after transitioning but did not win a medal.

The ban will also extend to athletes with differences in sexual development (DSD) who are registered as female at birth but have male chromosomes and male testosterone levels.

This would mean two-time Olympic women’s 800m champion Caster Semenya and Imane Khelif, who won a gold medal in the women’s boxing in Paris in 2024, would be blocked from competing in female events.

Speaking in a video on X, IOC president Kirsty Coventry said: ‘Today, we the International Olympic Committee have published a policy on the protection of the female category.

‘I understand that this is a very sensitive topic. As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition.

‘The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes at its heart. The scientific evidence is very clear – male chromosomes give performance advantages in sports that rely on strength, power or endurance.’

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