America's Olympic and Paralympic governing body has announced new regulations that will prevent transgender competitors from participating in female sporting categories.
The policy shift follows an executive order from President Donald Trump requiring compliance from federally funded organisations.
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee revised its athlete safety guidelines on Monday, mandating that national sporting federations align their regulations with federal requirements.
President Trump's directive, titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports", contains provisions that could withdraw state funding from institutions permitting transgender participation in female competitions.
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In correspondence to sporting bodies, USOPC leadership confirmed they had conducted discussions with Washington officials following the presidential directive:
"As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations," USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and president Gene Sykes wrote in a letter. The committee stated its commitment to maintaining equitable and secure competitive spaces for female athletes.
The February-signed measure empowers education officials to sanction non-compliant schools, potentially stripping them of federal support.
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The order extends beyond domestic competitions, instructing authorities to refuse entry visas to transgender female athletes seeking to compete on American soil. Trump has declared his intention to prevent transgender competitors from participating in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Upon signing the measure, Trump proclaimed that "the war on women's sports is over". The USOPC's website update confirms the organisation will work with stakeholders to maintain competitive spaces for women that align with both the executive order and existing sports legislation.
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|Donald Trump signed the No Men in Women's Sport executive order in Feburary
The International Olympic Committee currently permits individual sporting federations to establish their own transgender participation guidelines. Present IOC regulations allow trans competitors to participate provided they don't possess unfair competitive advantages.
Kirsty Coventry, who became the IOC's first female president in March, revealed substantial backing exists for safeguarding female sporting categories. She announced plans to establish an expert taskforce alongside international federations to formulate comprehensive gender eligibility guidelines.
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"There was overwhelming support that we should protect the female category," Coventry stated. The IOC president confirmed members agreed the organisation should assume leadership in developing consensus across different sports.
"It was fully agreed that as members that, as the IOC, we should make the effort to place emphasis on protection of the female category," she added.
Several sporting organisations have already implemented restrictions preventing athletes who experienced male puberty from elite female competitions. However, transgender women remain eligible in certain Olympic disciplines where federations haven't introduced such measures.
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The controversy surrounding last year's Paris Olympics remains unresolved, with boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting securing gold medals after the IOC permitted their participation. The International Boxing Association had previously disqualified both athletes from the 2023 World Championships for reportedly not meeting gender eligibility criteria.
Coventry confirmed the IOC will not pursue retroactive measures regarding past competitions. "We're not going to be doing anything retrospectively," she stated. "We're going to be looking forward."
The World Boxing organisation has since mandated sex testing for all competitors in female categories, reflecting the evolving landscape of gender eligibility policies across Olympic sports.