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Summary
The International Olympic Committee has proposed a blanket ban on transgender males from competing in women's sport. This policy is designed to protect the integrity and eligibility of the female sport category.
The International Olympic Committee has proposed a plan to implement a blanket ban on transgender males from competing in female sports. This development followed Dr Jane Thanton’s highlights of the unfairness in transgender males who had developed biological advantages to participate in women’s sport.
As part of her campaign pledge to protect the integrity of women’s sport, the IOC President, Ms Krispy Coventry, established the “Protection of the Female Category Working Group” in September 2025. Their goal is to explore how to protect the female category in sports. This group’s work formed the basis for the proposed blanket ban on transgender males in women’s sport.
This significant shift in policy will address inconsistencies in eligibility and athletes with Differences of Sexual Development (DSD). The new policy would also replace the IOC’s previous guidance, which had allowed transgender males to compete if they maintained testosterone levels below a specific threshold for a set period.
Although the IOC has not made any official announcement, sources indicated that the new policy could be implemented sometime in 2026, before the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028.
