The International Olympic Committee appears poised to implement sweeping changes that would prohibit transgender women from competing in female categories at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, though the status of athletes with differences of development remains uncertain.
Under the current framework, individual sports federations have the authority to establish their own policies regarding transgender athletes, typically based on testosterone level thresholds. However, sources close to the IOC indicate that new president Kirsty Coventry is spearheading discussions about introducing a comprehensive ban that would apply uniformly across all Olympic sports.
This shift would mark a significant departure from past practices. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard competed in weightlifting after transitioning in 2012, following the sport-specific regulations then in place. The proposed blanket policy would prevent similar scenarios from occurring in Los Angeles.
While Olympic insiders confirm that such a measure represents the
“direction of travel”
for the organization, the timeline for implementation remains fluid. The changes are unlikely to take effect before the Winter Olympics scheduled for Italy next February. Some reports have suggested an announcement could come as early as February, though officials familiar with the deliberations estimate the approval process could extend anywhere from six months to a full year.
The initiative aligns with Coventry’s campaign promises to safeguard the female category—a platform that helped secure her victory in the presidential election earlier this year. The timing also sidesteps potential friction with the incoming Trump administration, which issued an executive order in February barring transgender women from female sports competitions.
Last week in Lausanne, Dr. Jane Thornton, the IOC’s director of medical, health, and science, delivered a presentation to members that included a science-based examination of both transgender and DSD-related matters. The IOC has emphasized that no final decisions have been reached and that the executive board, scheduled to meet in December, has not yet received a formal presentation on the subject.
An official IOC statement clarified:
“An update was given by the IOC’s director of health, medicine and science to the IOC Members last week during the IOC commission meetings. The working group is continuing its discussions on this topic and no decisions have been taken yet.”
The presentation reportedly stressed a crucial distinction between transgender athletes and those with DSD conditions—individuals who possess male chromosomes but were assigned female at birth and raised as such. This category sparked considerable controversy during the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan became lightning rods for debate after winning boxing gold medals in Paris. Both athletes had previously been disqualified from the 2023 World Championships after reportedly failing gender eligibility tests, yet the IOC executive committee—which included Coventry at the time—allowed them to compete in the Olympic tournament.
The fierce backlash that followed those decisions has left the future policy regarding DSD athletes uncertain. While sources suggest that changes in this area are likely over the long term, the path forward faces internal resistance within the organization. The scientific and ethical complexities surrounding DSD athletes differ substantially from those involving transgender competitors, making consensus more elusive.
