The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has unveiled a new policy on the protection of the women’s category in Olympic sports, emphasising the need for sex-based eligibility criteria to preserve fairness, safety, and integrity in competition. The policy, announced this week, comes after extensive consultations with experts, athletes, and sports governing bodies worldwide.

The new guidelines firmly establish that eligibility for female events will be determined by biological sex, with athletes required to undergo screening for the SRY gene – a segment of DNA found on the Y chromosome that signals male sex development (only males have a Y chromosome). Athletes who test negative for the gene will be eligible to compete in the female category, while those who test positive, including transgender athletes and certain athletes with differences in sex development (DSDs), will not.

This policy builds on the IOC's 2021 Framework on Fairness, Inclusion, and Non-discrimination, which had previously provided guidance on eligibility based on gender identity and sex variations. However, the IOC says its latest decision reflects scientific and medical evidence, asserting that male athletes maintain a distinct performance advantage in strength, power, and endurance due to biological factors such as higher testosterone levels and muscle mass.

Kirsty Coventry, the Zimbabwean President of the IOC and an Olympic gold medallist in swimming, said that the decision had been made because “it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category”.

“As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition,” she said.

The IOC’s working group, which included experts from diverse fields such as sports science, endocrinology, and transgender medicine, found that males have clear physiological advantages across most Olympic events, especially those requiring explosive power and endurance. The group’s findings also highlighted the risks to female athletes' safety, particularly in contact sports, when male-bodied athletes participate.

There had been some controversy over transgender athletes or athletes with DSD in recent years in the Olympics. Boxers Imane Khelif, from Algeria, and Lin Yu-ting, from Taiwan, were at the centre of controversy in 2024 due to allegations regarding their gender. Both athletes, who had been competing in women’s categories, were revealed to be biologically male. This IOC ruling would mean both would be ineligible to compete in the female category at the Olympics in future.

The IOC’s policy underscores the importance of a level playing field and stresses that including male-bodied athletes in the female category undermines the core objectives of the Olympics – namely, equality, visibility, and the celebration of female athletes. According to the IOC, the policy aims to ensure that female athletes have equal opportunities to compete in finals, win medals, and inspire future generations.

While the policy is expected to face opposition from transgender rights advocates, the IOC maintains that the need to protect the integrity of female sport outweighs concerns related to gender identity. The decision has already sparked debates within the sporting community, but the IOC says it will stand firm on its commitment to fairness.

The IOC’s new policy will come into effect at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games and will be implemented across all IOC events. Sports federations and governing bodies are tasked with aligning their eligibility rules to ensure consistency and fairness across the Olympic Movement.

The move will likely not affect transgender women or people with DSDs competing in amateur sports. However, this is likely to continue to be an issue. In recent years there has been controversy over transwomen competing in the women’s category in the popular Parkruns, 5km runs that are held around the world. There have been complaints that transgender women have achieved Parkrun records in the women’s category. Parkrun responded by saying that it categorised people by “gender” rather than “sex”.

Different rulings have been made in other sports. In 2025 the England and Wales Cricket Board banned transgender women from playing female cricket at any level, citing fairness and safety as the reasons. However, transgender women may still play in men’s or mixed teams.

The move by the IOC is likely to be far-reaching and will affect amateur sport too. While the decision will be heavily attacked by some activists, for most people it is likely to be seen simply as a common-sense decision.