The IOC prepares new rules for transgender athletes: scientific reports, political pressure and fears for the female category mark the debate ahead of Los Angeles 2028
There trans question enters more and more forcefully into the heart of the strategic decisions of International Olympic Committee (IOC). A few years before the Los Angeles 2028 Games, the specter of a universal policy of excluding transgender athletes from women’s competitions it is no longer an absolute certainty: it has reached the decision-making table of the Olympic leaders.
Until now, as required by current guidelines, the responsibility for regulating who can or cannot participate, based on aspects such as testosterone levels or other biological criteria, has been left to individual international sports federations. A mosaic of standards, often conflicting and very different from each other. A real decision-making jumble.
Coventry: «Protect the women’s category, but with balance»
Since taking office in June 2025, Kirsty Coventrya multi-medalist former swimmer and first female president of the IOC, has decided to make a clear change on the issue. His words resonate like a manifesto of method and principles:
«When we talk about the female category, we must protect it, but do it in the fairest way possible.» — Kirsty Coventry, IOC press conference, December 2025
The president of the committee officially declared that a uniform Olympic policy for the eligibility of transgender athletes will be presented by early 2026after in-depth consultations and the contribution of experts, federations and stakeholders.
The former Olympic athlete does not hide the difficulties: «FMaybe it won’t be easy to find a consensus, but we must do our best to protect the female category.”
And he insists on another point often forgotten in public debate: «Sport is a human right. At a grassroots level, at a recreational level, everyone should have access. That won’t change.”
Towards a specific category or definitive exclusion?
The voices of a possible total exclusion of transgender athletes from female participation in the Olympic Games they would appear to be the majority. Several international newspapers, citing internal sources, have reported that the Committee is considering a general ban, an act which, if confirmed, would constitute an epochal precedent in international sport.
However, at the moment no formal decision was taken. The IOC reiterated that the working group dedicated to the issue continues to discuss and evaluate the available scientific datawithout yet adopting definitive rules. Any political repercussions seem to worry those involved in the greatest sporting expression in existence.
The tug of war between science, equity and inclusion
At the origin of the revision of the rules there is a fact: athletic differences after puberty they represent a major concern for many athletes and managers. Sports medicine experts and some federations argue that, if an athlete has undergone male puberty prior to transitionit is inevitable that significant biological advantages remain, which are difficult to neutralize even with hormone therapy.
Coventry has chosen to define this approach «scientific but consultative”working closely with representatives of federations such as boxing and athletics, which have already introduced particular tests or stricter criteria in their competitions.
Political and cultural reactions: a global theme
In addition to the sporting community, the debate has transcended the Olympic borders and reached the halls of governments. In the United States, for example, an executive order signed by the Trump administration banned transgender athletes from competing in girls’ school sports and asked the IOC to do so for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Everyone remembers very well the controversies that arose over the Algerian boxer Imane Khelifwho had won the gold medal at the Paris games in 2024. The latter’s case ended this year: the athlete was not admitted to the women’s world championships nor to the Eindhoven cup due to her refusal to carry out genetic sex tests. Tests that had been introduced precisely because of the controversies that arose during the French competitions.
A look at the future: between fair play and human rights
The decision that will be announced over the next few months will have a profound impact not only on the Olympics, but also on global sports culture. Coventry is aware of the sensitivity of the issue: on the one hand elite sport requires equal competitive opportunities, on the other its declared mission is to ensure that sport remains a vehicle for inclusion and universal rights.
In the coming months, as theofficial announcement expected at the beginning of 2026the world of sport will carefully follow every intervention, every statement, and every scientific data made public by the IOC.
One thing is certain: however the matter ends, there will certainly be no shortage of controversy, between those who praise transphobia and those who instead recognize the decision to preserve women’s sport as a dutiful and necessary act.
