The International Olympic Committee is reportedly set to ban transgender women from competing in all female categories.
The change is set to be officially announced early next year, The Times reported on Monday, citing sources.
The decision to overhaul the current policy was made after the sporting committee carried out a science-based review of a biologically-born male’s physical advantages, the sources added.
The findings were presented by the IOC’s medical and scientific director, Dr Jane Thornton, in a closed-door meeting last week.
“It was a very scientific, factual and unemotional presentation which quite clearly laid out the evidence,” a source told the outlet.
Under the current guidance, trans women have been able to compete in the female category with reduced testosterone levels – but the decision has ultimately been left up to individual sports.
An IOC spokesperson on Monday denied a decision had been made.
“An update was given by the IOC’s Director of Health, Medicine and Science to the IOC Members last week during the IOC commission meetings,” the spokesperson told The Post.
“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 new blanket rule comes after the IOC’s new chief, Kirsty Coventry, vowed earlier this year to protect the female sporting category.
“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, an ex-Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe, said at the time.
“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 acknowledged there was “unanimous” support for reaching an agreement about how best to amend the policy.
“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,” Coventry said.
“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 wasn’t immediately clear if the new guidance would be implemented before the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
The next summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles in 2028.
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