Eligibility will be determined by a “once-in-a-lifetime” sex test and it takes effect from the LA 2028 Games.
The International Olympic Committee has banned transgender women and DSD (difference in sexual development) athletes from the female category at the LA 2028 Olympics and future Games.
It means that the women’s category will be limited to biological females, with eligibility determined by a “once-in-a-lifetime” sex test. This screening will detect the SRY gene – the sex-determining region Y gene – which is part of the Y chromosome and causes male characteristics to develop.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry has said this will be led by “medical experts” and, more generally, she “believes in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition”.
“At the Olympic Games even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat,” she said. “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.”
“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.”
The IOC had previously left sex eligibility regulations to the national federations, with athletics being one of the leading sports – alongside swimming, cycling and rowing – in bringing in tougher rules.
Last summer World Athletics approved the introduction of a cheek swab or blood test to ascertain whether an athlete is eligible to compete in the female category.
The regulations came into effect on September 1 and applied to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. At the time World Athletics president Seb Coe stated that “gender cannot trump biology” and that there should be “no biological glass ceiling”.
The IOC has now taken a similar approach to testing the SRY gene. “Screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods,” it said.
“Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene permanently satisfy this policy’s eligibility criteria for competition in the female category. Unless there is reason to believe that a negative reading is in error, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime test.”
The IOC added that athletes who fail the test would “continue to be included in all other classifications for which they qualify”.
There have been several high-profile cases of DSD athletes in athletics, including Caster Semenya, Francine Niyonsaba and Christine Mboma, to name just a few.