The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is reportedly set to ban transgender women from competing in all female categories, according to The Times. The policy shift is expected to be formally announced early next year.
At a closed-door meeting in Lausanne last week, IOC medical and scientific director Dr. Jane Thornton, a former Olympic rower, presented the preliminary findings of the scientific review.
According to The Times, the briefing was “a very scientific, factual and unemotional presentation which quite clearly laid out the evidence.”
The data reportedly concluded that biological males retain physical advantages even after undergoing hormone treatments to reduce testosterone levels.
Until now, the IOC has issued only non-binding guidance, allowing individual sports to decide their own eligibility rules for transgender athletes. Under the current framework, trans women could compete in female divisions if their testosterone levels met specific thresholds.
Why are they banning transgenders from female events?
According to The Times, IOC members were shown evidence suggesting that even with hormone suppression, significant physiological advantages remain.
It also reported that the organisation is now moving toward a uniform global policy banning transgender women from female categories, with a formal announcement possibly coming during the IOC session at next February’s Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
The IOC confirmed that Thornton had presented initial review findings but added that “the working group is continuing its discussions on this topic and no decisions have been taken yet. Further information will be provided in due course.”
The reported move aligns with recent remarks by IOC president Kirsty Coventry, who earlier this year stressed on the committee’s commitment to safeguarding women’s competition.
“We understand there will be differences depending on the sports. We should make the effort to place emphasis on the protection of the female category and we should ensure that this is done in consensus with all the stakeholders,” Coventry said to New York Post.
She also stressed that any revisions must be grounded in research and collaboration. “But we need to do that with a scientific approach and the inclusion of the international federations who have already done a lot of work in this area,” she said to New York Post.
Coventry added that there was broad agreement within the IOC to take decisive leadership on the issue. “It was very clear from the membership, the discussion around this has to be done with medical and scientific research at the core, so we are looking at the facts and the nuances and the inclusion of the international federations that have done so much of this work … having a seat at the table and sharing with us because every sport is different,” she added to New York Post.
“But it was pretty much unanimously felt that the IOC should take a leading role in bringing everyone together to try and find a broad consensus.”
It remains unclear whether the proposed ban will be implemented before the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The next Summer Games are scheduled for Los Angeles in 2028.