The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has quietly implemented a ban preventing trans women from participating in women’s sports, aligning itself with a controversial executive order recently signed by Donald Trump.
According to The New York Times, the rule change was introduced with minimal publicity earlier this week, tucked within a brief and somewhat vague paragraph outlining new eligibility criteria.
The updated policy affirms that the USOPC is “committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport” and pledges to collaborate with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and each sport’s national governing bodies. The goal is to create “a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act.”
Executive Order 14201: A Direct Hit to Trans Inclusion
Signed by Trump on 5 February, Executive Order 14201 bans trans women from competing in female sports categories and threatens to strip federal funding from educational institutions that allow such participation.
“As long as I’m president, we will always protect women’s sports. Men will not play in women’s sports,” Trump declared, echoing long-standing and debunked claims about trans athletes.
“No way. They say it’s an 80-20 issue. No, it’s a 97-3 issue, I think,” he added. “No, men will not be playing in women’s sports. I said that, and I classified it with a very powerful executive order, as you know. It’s done.”
Trump’s stance gained further attention in May, when he falsely claimed Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif was transgender, highlighting both his misinformation and the broader political targeting of the trans community.
NCAA Joins the Crackdown
Just one day after the executive order was signed, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) — which governs student sports in the US — announced it too would bar trans women from women’s competitions.
The NCAA’s policy shift further entrenches a growing wave of restrictions targeting transgender athletes, despite research consistently showing that trans women do not have an inherent advantage in elite sport.
Science vs Politics
While these decisions are touted by political leaders as defending “fairness” in women’s sports, numerous studies and experts in sport science argue otherwise. Research indicates that with appropriate hormone therapy and regulations, trans athletes do not hold unfair physical advantages.
Still, policies like those from the USOPC and NCAA, fuelled by political rhetoric rather than scientific consensus, threaten to further marginalise trans people in sport and society more broadly.
