The International Olympic Committee is barring male athletes from competing against women at the Olympics, beginning with the 2028 summer games set to take place in Los Angeles.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry, a decorated former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe, announced the ban Thursday after promising to protect the integrity of women’s sports leading up to her election.
“The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interest of athletes at its heart. The scientific evidence is very clear: male chromosomes give performance advantages in sports that rely on strength, power, or endurance,” Coventry said in a video.
“At the Olympic games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So it’s 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 added.
The announcement marks the culmination the IOC administration’s review of its approach to the female athletic category starting in September 2024. The IOC launched a working group in September 2025 to examine the scientific evidence, medical developments, and legal changes since 2021 in order to create a policy for protecting female athletes. Experts in sports science, endocrinology, transgender medicine, women’s health, and other relevant fields participated in the working group.
Women will be required to take a one-time genetic test in order to be eligible to compete. The policy is not retroactive and it will not apply to recreational programs.
The first woman and first African Olympic president, Coventry began her tenure overseeing the 2026 Milan-Cortina winter Olympics in February, marking the 25th installment of the winter games.
The IOC’s decision reflects the widespread backlash to men competing in women’s sports in the U.S. and elsewhere. Worldwide, women athletes have lost hundreds of medals to male competitors across 29 different sports. Men competing in women’s sports can present safety risks depending on the nature of the competition, given the significant strength advantage men possess.
Over two thirds of U.S. adults believe athletes identifying as transgender should compete on sports teams matching their sex, according to Gallup polling. At the beginning of his term, President Trump signed an executive order barring men from competing in women’s sports, a directive the U.S. Olympic Committee began complying with in July.
The Trump administration celebrate the IOC’s decision to ban males from competing against females, taking credit for the move.
“You cannot change your sex. President Trump’s Executive Order protecting women’s sports made this happen!” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Trump’s order came after he made the transgender issue an important one to his presidential campaign. Many observers believe Trump’s most effective campaign ad was a quick spot accusing then-Vice President Kamala Harris of prioritizing people whose preferred pronouns are “they/them” over ordinary Americans.
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