The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned transgender women and DSD athletes from the female category of events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and future Games.
President of the IOC, Kirsty Coventry says the landmark decision had been taken because “it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category”.
The IOC has also confirmed that all athletes wanting to compete in the female category at future Olympics will have to undergo a one-off SRY (sex determining region Y gene) screening to detect their biological sex.
Usually that is done via an unintrusive cheek-swab or saliva test.
Coventry says the decision, which applies to elite individual and team sports, was based on science and would protect the fairness and safety of women’s sport.
He adds that as a former athlete, she passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition.
Sports have been wrestling with the issue of transgender and DSD (differences in sex development) participation in the female category for more than a decade.
In 2021, the New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender woman to compete at an Olympics after transitioning.
There have also been several high-profile cases of DSD athletes, who were reported female at birth but have male chromosomes and male testosterone levels, winning Olympic medals.
They include the South African Caster Semenya, winner of London 2012 and Rio 2016 women’s 800 metres Olympic gold, as well as the boxer Imane Khelif in Paris in 2024.
Source: The Guardian
