IOC makes transgender athlete decision ahead of 2028 LA Olympics

The International Olympic Committee has implemented a sweeping eligibility overhaul for women’s events, formally restricting participation to biological females only, beginning with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Under the former framework, transgender women were allowed to compete under testosterone-based criteria while leaving enforcement to individual federations, per ESPN.

“Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females,” the committee said via a statement.

At the core of the new policy is a mandatory, one-time genetic screening based on detection of the SRY gene, a DNA marker typically located on the Y chromosome and linked to male sex development. The IOC considers this test the “most accurate and least intrusive” method currently available, with verification conducted via saliva, cheek swab, or blood sample.

“It is not retroactive and does not apply to any grassroots or recreational sports programs,” said the IOC; its Olympic Charter states that access to play sport is a human right,” the statement said.

Athletes who test negative will be permanently eligible for the women’s category, while those testing positive will be excluded but remain eligible for male, mixed, or open categories. The policy is not retroactive and does not affect grassroots or recreational sport, maintaining alignment with the Olympic Charter’s principle that access to sport is a human right.

However, at the elite level, the IOC is now standardizing rules across all Olympic disciplines where federations such as athletics, swimming, and cycling had already introduced stricter bans on transgender women who experienced male puberty. The decision is grounded in scientific findings reviewed between September 2024 and March 2026, including input from a global working group of experts across sports science, endocrinology and medicine.

The group concluded that male biological development confers retained advantages in strength, endurance, and power, citing three testosterone exposure phases: prenatal, early infancy, and puberty, as key contributors to long-term performance differences.

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