Women’s sports and Team Sanity scored a massive victory on Thursday.
As reported on Friday’s AM Update, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced its official new policy prohibits men from competing in women’s sports. The rule applies to the upcoming Los Angeles summer Olympics in 2028 and beyond, but it is not retroactive. That means medals and results from previous Olympic Games will remain unchanged.
The Policy Change
The policy is clear: “For all disciplines on the Sports Program of an IOC Event, including individual and team sports, eligibility for any Female Category is limited to Biological Females.”
IOC President Kirsty Coventry, herself a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming for her native Zimbabwe, explained the new rule as a “protection of the female category” that is “based on science” and “led by medical experts” with “the best interests of athletes at its heart.”
“I understand that this is a very sensitive topic. As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition,” Coventry said. “The scientific evidence is very clear. Male chromosomes give performance advantages in sports that rely on strength, power, or endurance… In addition, in some sports, it would simply not be safe.”
Coventry noted that, in the case of Olympic competition, “even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat, so it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category.”
Eligibility to compete as a female athlete in the Olympics will now be determined by genetic testing through saliva, cheek swab, or a blood sample, and Coventry said athletes will only need to be screened once in their lifetime.
The Shift
The new policy and Coventry’s statement mark an incredible shift from just a few years ago when such scientific and rational reasoning would be unfathomable.
Last year, Coventry became the first female elected as IOC president, and the Associated Press reported female eligibility was a major theme of the election. In June, she set up a review of “protecting the female category.”
The new IOC policy is consistent with President Donald Trump’s February 2025 executive order called “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” and he took a victory lap on Truth Social in the wake of the announcement.
“Congratulations to the International Olympic Committee on their decision to ban Men from Women’s Sports,” he wrote. “This is only happening because of my powerful Executive Order, standing up for Women and Girls!”
Past Controversy
Prior to the 2024 Paris Olympics, only three so-called ‘top-tier’ sports – track and field, swimming and cycling – had a ban on males who identified as females and had also gone through male puberty competing in the women’s category.
The issue came to a head in female boxing during the 2024 Olympics when Lin Yu Ting of Taiwan and Imane Khelif of Algeria won gold in female categories after having previously been ruled ineligible to compete as women by the International Boxing Association.
The status of both Lin and Khelif is unclear ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics, but Reuters reported World Boxing, a separate organization, cleared Lin to return to international competition earlier this week after completing a review of her gender eligibility.
Khelif, meanwhile, reportedly told French outlet L’Equipe that he has the SRY gene, which would make him ineligible under the IOC’s new rules. Though he added, “I have taken hormone treatments to lower my testosterone levels for competitions.” On AM Update, Megyn said Khelif’s “admission about his Y-chromosome confirms he is biologically male.”
But Khelif has remained bullish on 2028, telling CNN in February that he would be willing to undergo genetic testing to compete in Los Angeles. “They should protect women, but they need to pay attention that while protecting women, they shouldn’t hurt other women,” Khelif said. “I’m not transgender. I’m a woman.”
We will keep you updated on whether Khelif and Lin will ultimately be allowed to compete in L.A.
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