Olympics Ban Trans Athletes From Women's Events

Transgender athletes have been barred from women's events at future Olympics under a sweeping new rule announced by the International Olympic Committee. "It would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category," said IOC president Kirsty Coventry, reports the Guardian. Going forward, athletes in women's categories will be subject to a one-time DNA test, and those without typical XX chromosomes—including some with differences in sex development (DSD)—will be barred, reports the New York Times. The IOC says the move follows an expert review suggesting athletes born with male sex markers retain physical advantages even after testosterone suppression.

Coventry, a former Olympic swimmer, has previously made clear that she supports the idea of excluding trans athletes amid escalating fights over the issue. The move aligns the IOC with sports like track and field, swimming, and rugby, which already limit transgender women in elite competition. Critics say the approach revives harmful practices: South African runner Caster Semenya, long at the center of sex-eligibility battles, condemned the renewed genetic screening as "walking backward" and "exclusion with a new name," pointing to what she and other athletes describe as invasive exams and coerced medical interventions under past rules.