The International Olympic Committee has announced that transgender women and athletes with differences in sex development will be barred from competing in the female category at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and future Games. The IOC said the change is intended to protect fairness and athlete safety in elite women’s sport.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry said the decision followed scientific and medical advice, arguing that athletes who have gone through male puberty retain physical advantages that cannot be ignored at the highest level of competition. She said it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category and added that, in some sports, safety was also a consideration. Coventry also said every athlete should be treated with “dignity and respect”.
Under the new policy, athletes wishing to compete in the female category at future Olympics will be required to undergo a one-off SRY gene screening test to determine biological sex. The IOC said this would typically involve a cheek swab or saliva sample and described the process as non-intrusive. According to the organisation, the SRY marker provides a reliable indication of male sex development and would only need to be checked once in an athlete’s lifetime.
The move marks a major shift in Olympic eligibility rules after years of debate around transgender participation and DSD athletes in women’s events. The issue has remained contentious since New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender woman to compete at an Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. The debate has also been shaped by cases involving DSD athletes, including South Africa’s Caster Semenya and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, both of whom became focal points in wider arguments about inclusion, biology and competitive equity.
In a policy document, the IOC said athletes with XY chromosomes who are transgender or have certain DSD conditions generally retain performance advantages associated with male puberty. It pointed to claimed gaps between male and female results across running, swimming, jumping, throwing and power-based events, saying these differences support the case for a sex-based female category in elite competition. The IOC said that category is necessary to preserve fairness, safety and the integrity of women’s sport.
The committee said it expects international federations and governing bodies to adopt the same approach for major elite events, including both Summer and Winter Olympics. It also stressed that the rule is aimed at elite sport only and does not apply to grassroots or recreational participation.
Reaction was mixed. The charity Sex Matters welcomed the decision, saying the guidelines would help secure a safe and fair female category and describing SRY screening as a simple, non-invasive measure. But the group Dsdfamilies criticised the policy, arguing that while fairness matters, eligibility rules should also be proportionate and aligned with current standards of DSD care. Its spokesperson warned that the proposed approach risked causing avoidable harm to a vulnerable minority if handled without sufficient understanding and respect.
