Olympic Committee may be moving towards ban on transgender athletes

(Gray News) – The International Olympic Committee may consider banning trans athletes from participating in future Olympic Games, according to reports.

The Los Angeles Times has covered the potential new policy ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games, which are set to be held in L.A.

The IOC responded to multiple reports that transgender athletes were banned from participating in female sports, saying the claims were premature. However, it did not say that a new policy was not forthcoming.

The IOC has been under the leadership of a new president, Kirsty Coventry, who decided to be proactive in setting eligibility criteria for the participation of transgender athletes.

The IOC previously left the responsibility up to the individual sports federations, leading to an incohesive variety of approaches regarding transgender athletes for each sport.

According to Reuters, Coventry set up the “Protection of the Female Category” working group, which is made up of experts and representatives of international federations. The group’s purpose is to look into how best to protect the female category in sports.

“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,” an IOC spokesperson said. “The working group is continuing its discussions on this topic and no decisions have been taken yet. Further information will be provided in due course.”

Before Coventry’s succession as president, the IOC under Thomas Bach had avoided applying any universal rules on the involvement of transgender athletes in the Olympic Games. The current rules still allow for transgender athletes to participate.

Some international federations have rules in place for trans athletes, while others do not yet.

The new IOC policy could come as soon as the IOC session in February, scheduled ahead of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in early 2025 banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports in schools. He also said he intends to apply the policy at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.