Olympics
IOC bans Trans women; make SRY gene test mandatory
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.
Only biological women can compete in sports starting from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the International Olympic Committee announced in a new policy on Thursday, effectively shutting the door for transgender women athletes in sports.
"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 IOC said in a statement.
The gender will be determined one‑time SRY gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample, which the apex body terms is "unintrusive compared to other possible methods."
The policy also restricts women athletes such as two-time Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya with medical conditions known as differences in sex development, or DSD.
"With the rare exception of athletes with a diagnosis of Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS) or other rare differences/disorders in sex development (DSDs) who do not benefit from the anabolic and/or performance-enhancing effects of testosterone, no athlete with an SRY-positive screen is eligible for competition in the female category at an IOC event," the IOC statement read.
"Athletes with an SRY-positive screen, including XY transgender and androgen-sensitive XY-DSD athletes, continue to be included in all other classifications for which they qualify. For example, they are eligible for any male category, including in a designated male slot within any mixed category, and any open category, or in sports and events that do not classify athletes by sex," it added.