Transgender Women Likely To Be Banned From Female Olympic Events After Review Reveals The Obvious
A win for women and common sense.
In a win for common sense, basic science, and female athletes around the globe, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is reportedly set to announce that all transgender women will be banned from all female competitions in the Olympics.
The Times reported that the ban on transgender women is set to be announced in early 2026. Shortly after the initial report, the IOC told the BBC that "the working group is continuing its discussions on this topic and no decisions have been taken yet". Despite the IOC's waffling statement, the BBC went on to report that "the likely outcome is that such a ban will be introduced" after recent findings in a science-based review.
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Dr. Jane Thornton, the IOC's medical and scientific director, reportedly presented to members of the organization that scientific evidence showed "there were physical advantages to being born male that remained with athletes, including those who had taken treatment to reduce testosterone levels."
It's stunning that formal studies and presentations needed to take place in order to determine that biological males have physical advantages over biological females, but this is the world we're living in today.
Imane Khelif of Team Algeria celebrates winning a gold medal in France. (Photo by Aytac Unal/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The IOC had the following to say via a statement:
"An update was given by the IOC’s Director of Health, Medicine and Science to the IOC Members last week during the IOC commission meetings. The working group is continuing its discussions on this topic and no decisions have been taken yet. Further information will be provided in due course."
Reduced Testosterone Levels
At the current moment, the IOC's guidance allows transgender women to compete in female competitions with reduced testosterone levels, leaving determinations up to sports individually. The expected policy change would ban all trans women from female competitions across the board.
According to The Times, the new policy would likely cover differences of sex development (DSD) athletes - those raised as girls from birth but have male chromosomes and male levels of testosterone.
A ban of DSD athletes from female competitions would come after a major controversy shook the female boxing tournament during the 2024 Games in Paris, when Algeria's Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting both won gold medals despite having been disqualified from the previous year’s World Championships for allegedly failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.
The 2028 Olympics are set to be hosted in Los Angeles beginning on July 14.