The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has officially aligned itself with President Trump’s executive order prohibiting transgender women from competing in women’s sports,.
A comprehensive 27-page policy document released Friday and posted on the committee’s website Monday notably omits any reference to the word “transgender,” signaling a deliberate departure from previous language addressing these athletes. Olympic officials stated they remain “committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport” through compliance with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act.
The policy update aims to “ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment,” according to the organization’s statement. This represents a marked change from the committee’s previous approach, which emphasized relying on “real data and science-based evidence rather than ideology” when determining transgender athlete eligibility. The organization had previously stressed making “science‑based decisions, sport by sport and discipline by discipline.”
Behind the scenes, committee leadership has been working closely with federal authorities since Trump’s February executive order. In correspondence obtained by CNN, CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes revealed the organization had “engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials” following the presidential directive.
The executives emphasized their legal obligations, stating: “As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations.” This federal charter relationship stems from the Ted Stevens Act, originally signed in 1978 as the Amateur Sports Act to establish the U.S. Olympic Committee and National Governing Bodies for Olympic sports. The legislation was later revised in 1998 to remove amateurism requirements and incorporate Paralympic sports.
Committee officials justified the policy changes by citing the Ted Stevens Act, which “reinforces [their] mandated responsibility to promote athlete safety and competitive fairness.” All governing bodies under the Olympic umbrella must now adhere to this new guidance, which appears prominently on the USOPC webpage dedicated to “Transgender Athlete Participation in Sport.”
Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order, issued in February, reflects his administration’s broader stance on transgender participation in athletics. When signing the directive, the president characterized it as ending “the dangerous and unfair participation of men in women’s sports” and promised “immediate action” against educational institutions and sports associations that “denied women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms.”
This policy position has remained consistent throughout Trump’s political career and was a recurring theme during his presidential campaign. The administration has demonstrated its commitment to enforcement through specific actions, including launching an investigation into a Connecticut school system’s transgender athletic policies.
The president has also pressured state-level officials to adopt similar restrictions. In March, he directly challenged Maine Governor Janet Mills for her refusal to implement transgender athlete bans, warning: “You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.”
The Olympic Committee’s compliance represents one of the most high-profile adoptions of Trump’s transgender sports policy to date. The organization’s federal charter status effectively compelled alignment with the executive order, demonstrating how federal authority can influence major sporting institutions across the country.
