IOC set to ban transgender athletes from Olympic women’s events: reports

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will enact a new policy that will prohibit transgender female athletes from competing against biological women, according to multiple reports. The policy is reportedly set to cover those with differences of sex development (DSD).

The IOC’s current policy leaves it up to each individual sport’s governing body to make policies governing transgender athletes. But as the IOC changed its leadership, The Times of London reported on Monday that its policies are set to change as well.

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IOC president Kirsty Coventry called for “protecting” the women’s category in June and there was “overwhelming support” from IOC members to do the same.

“We understand that there’ll be differences depending on the sport … but it was very clear from the members that we have to protect the female category, first and foremost to ensure fairness,” Coventry said at the time.

“But we need to do that with a scientific approach and the inclusion of the international federations who have already done a lot of work in this area.”

The upcoming policy switch is likely to be announced at the IOC session in February before the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy and comes after a presentation from Dr. Jane Thornton, the IOC’s medical and scientific director, last week, according to The Times.

Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Thursday, March 20, 2025.  (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

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Thornton’s presentation reportedly showed there were physical advantages in males, including those who took treatments to reduce testosterone levels. A source told the paper that the presentation was “very scientific” and unemotional.

Athletes with DSD – those who were raised female but born with male traits – are set to be covered under the new policy, according to The Times. Olympic boxing had two major controversies over athletes who previously failed gender tests.

Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting won gold medals in their respective weight classes in the women’s division despite major uproar. Khelif has insisted that they were female. Lin has not commented on the controversy since the Olympics were finished.

Imane Khelif (red) of Team Algeria competes against Anna Luca Hamori (blue) of Team Hungary in the women’s 66kg quarter-final boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte, France on August 3, 2024. Khelif wins the match and advanced to semi-finals. (Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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World Boxing has since implemented mandatory sex testing for its competitors and Khelif will not be able to compete unless the test is completed.

Fox News Digital reached out to the IOC for comment.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

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