* DSD athletes also face exclusion from future Olympics * IOC says move will protect fairness and safety’ The International Olympic Committee has banned transgender women and DSD athletes from the female category of events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and future Games in a landmark decision. Kirsty Coventry, president of the IOC, said: “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 now have to undergo a one-off SRY gene screening to detect their biological sex. Usually that is done via a non-instrusive cheek-swab or saliva test. Coventry said that the decision, which applies to individual and team sports, was based on science and would protect the fairness and safety of women’s sport. “As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition,” she said. “The policy that we have announced is based on science and has been led by medical experts. At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.” She continued: “Every athlete must be treated with dignity and respect, and athletes will need to be screened only once in their lifetime. There must be clear education around the process and counselling available, alongside expert medical advice.” Sports have been wrestling with the issue of transgender and DSD participation in the female category for more than a decade. In 2021 the New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard propelled the issue into the mainstream by becoming the first transgender woman to compete at an Olympics after transitioning. Meanwhile 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, who won women’s 800m Olympic gold at the 2012 and 2016 Games, as well as the boxer Imane Khelif in Paris in 2024. However in a 10-page document outlining its new policy, the IOC makes it clear that trangender women, who have transitioned from male to female, and athletes with a DSD, retain the advantages of going through male puberty. “There is a 10-12% male performance advantage in most running and swimming events,” it states. “There is a 20+ per cent male performance advantage in most throwing and jumping events. And the male performance advantage can be greater than 100 per cent in events that involve explosive power, e.g. in collision, lifting and punching sports.” “XY transgender athletes and athletes with XY-DSD typically have testes/testicles and testosterone levels in the male range,” it adds. “The clear majority are androgen-sensitive, meaning that their bodies are receptive to and make use of that testosterone during growth and development and throughout their athletic career.” “In light of the scientific consensus that males have a performance advantage in all sports and events that rely on strength, power and/or endurance irrespective of subsequent testosterone suppression or gender-affirming hormone treatment, the Olympic movement has a compelling interest in having a sex-based female category, because this is necessary to ensure fairness, safety and integrity in elite competition,” the document states. Continue reading...

The medal-winning skier from the north Russian region of Komi is one of six athletes to compete under the Russian tricolour in the Paralympics 2026.

The new policy limits eligibility in women’s events to biological females based on genetic screening beginning at the 2028 Games.