The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is weighing a sweeping policy change that would bar transgender women from competing in all female categories at the Games, with an announcement expected early next year, according to reports shared with IOC members last week.
At a closed‐door meeting in Lausanne, the IOC’s medical and scientific director, Dr. Jane Thornton, presented the initial findings of a science-based review that, sources said, concluded there are physical advantages associated with being born male that persist even after testosterone-suppression treatment.
One attendee described the briefing as “very scientific, factual and unemotional,” saying it “quite clearly laid out the evidence.”
An IOC spokesperson stressed that no final decision has been taken. “An update was given by the IOC’s Director of Health, Medicine and Science to the IOC Members last week… 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 spokesperson said.
What would change
For nearly a decade, the IOC’s guidance has allowed transgender women to compete in female categories if they meet testosterone-reduction thresholds, while leaving ultimate eligibility determinations to each international federation.
The contemplated overhaul would replace that sport-by-sport discretion with a uniform IOC rule excluding transgender women from female events across the Olympic program.
Several federations—including in athletics and swimming—have already moved to restrict participation by athletes who have undergone male puberty, while others, such as football, have not. A blanket IOC policy would standardize eligibility across sports tied to the Games.
Timeline and legal work
Multiple sources indicated the IOC is likely to unveil the new framework in early 2026, potentially around the IOC Session during the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.
Some legal work remains to make the approach “watertight,” since IOC positions to date have been issued as recommendations rather than binding eligibility rules.
It is not yet clear whether any change would apply before Milan-Cortina 2026; the next Summer Olympics are in Los Angeles in 2028.
Coventry’s stance: protect the female category, lead with science
Kirsty Coventry, the former Olympic swimming champion from Zimbabwe who was elected IOC president this year, has repeatedly emphasized safeguarding the female category while grounding decisions in scientific evidence and broad consultation.
“We understand there will be differences depending on the sports,” Coventry said earlier this year, calling for “the protection of the female category” achieved “with a scientific approach and the inclusion of the international federations.”
According to people familiar with last week’s meetings, there was near-unanimous support among IOC members for the organization to take a leading role and build consensus on an updated policy.
DSD athletes likely included
The prospective policy is also expected to address athletes with differences of sex development (DSD)—competitors who were raised female but have XY chromosomes and male-range testosterone levels.
The Paris 2024 boxing tournament intensified scrutiny after Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting won Olympic gold amid prior eligibility disputes at the world-governing level.
World Boxing, now recognized by the IOC, has since implemented mandatory sex testing and said Khelif must undergo testing before competing again in the female category.
What happens next
While sources describe strong internal momentum for a uniform rule, the IOC maintains that deliberations are ongoing and no final decision has been reached.
Any adopted framework would mark a significant shift from case-by-case federation control to a centralized eligibility standard, reshaping how transgender and DSD participation is governed at the world’s biggest multi-sport event.
Key open questions include the precise legal form of the policy, its implementation date relative to Milan-Cortina 2026, how it will interface with existing federation rules, and what—if any—pathways for participation will be provided outside the female category.
The IOC has indicated further updates will be issued “in due course” as the working group completes its review.
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