Will the Olympics Finally Kick Men out of Women’s Sports?

At long last, it looks like men will no longer be allowed to compete against women in the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), under new president Kirsty Coventry, is expected to place a blanket ban on all transgender athletes in women’s events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. It’s about time, too.

Under the current rules, each individual sport has the power to admit trans athletes if their testosterone falls below a certain level. This means that, if a biological male ‘transitions’ into a woman in adulthood, he would still be able to compete in certain sports—despite him having gone through male puberty and receiving all the physical advantages that confers. 

U.S. president Donald Trump has already vowed to stop men from competing in women’s sports in 2028, with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announcing back in July that it was introducing new eligibility criteria that would restrict participation in women’s events to athletes who were born female. When taking office in February, Trump also promised that he would stop any transgender athletes coming to the U.S. from abroad, instructing the Department of Homeland Security to “reject any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying as women athletes.” Now, that likely won’t be necessary. 

This ban is a long time coming. The sporting world has historically lacked a uniform policy when it comes to trans athletes. National and international sporting bodies were usually left to come up with their own trans-inclusion policies—some restricted participation to those who had not gone through male puberty, while others decided to test eligibility based on testosterone levels. Usually, this allowed for a small number of intersex or transgender athletes who were born male to face off against female opponents. 

It was this confusion and laxity that allowed a biological man into the boxing ring with a woman at last year’s Paris Olympics. Italian boxer Angela Carini lasted just 46 seconds in the ring with Algeria’s Imane Khelif, before he broke her nose. It was later revealed that Khelif had previously failed genetic testing and had been ruled ineligible to compete in a previous competition by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023. This summer, leaked medical reports confirmed what many observers had speculated at the time—that Khelif’s biological gender was male. He was not transgender, but did have an “XY karyotype”—in other words, male chromosomes. 

If that wasn’t bad enough, the Paris Olympics saw a second gender-ambiguous boxer step into the ring with women—Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting. Like Khalif, Lin had also failed gender testing in 2023 and was prevented from competing in the IBA’s world championships. Despite that, Lin was able to compete in the women’s category at last year’s Olympics, as well as in Taiwan’s National Games last month. Lin won a gold medal in Paris, and managed to defeat an opponent in under 90 seconds in the more recent Taiwanese match. 

It’s not yet clear whether the IOC intends to also ban athletes like Khelif and Lin, who suffer from differences of sexual development (DSD). But, hopefully, this new eligibility criteria will prevent dangerous situations like the above from recurring. It’s high time that the rules were changed to protect women’s safety, rather than men’s feelings. Thankfully, it looks as though the IOC is heading in the right direction. Last week, IOC medical, health, and science director Dr. Jane Thornton delivered a presentation to members that included a science-based review of trans and DSD issues. As it stands, the IOC is yet to confirm the new regulations, but so far, the signs are promising. The fact that science is being put back into the picture at all is reassuring. 

For too long, ideology has trumped biology in the sporting world. To put it bluntly, there should be no place for men in women’s sports. Any male athlete identifying as transgender should not be allowed anywhere near female events—especially not ones that involve physical contact. And even in cases where women aren’t in physical danger, fairness should still be the top priority of sporting bodies. It is undeniable that men are, on average, heavier, stronger, faster, and taller than women. One study from the University of Utah found that men can punch up to 163% harder than women. Anyone who has been through male puberty will invariably have longer legs, a greater wingspan, and a larger lung capacity than someone who hasn’t. And yet, we are so often asked to pretend that this is not the case in order to spare the feelings of men who believe they can become women—or, more rarely, to avoid hurting and excluding those individuals who are born with DSD. This is a delusion, plain and simple.

Ironically, as inclusion and tolerance have become the guiding principles of sports, more and more female athletes have been excluded and pushed away from their passions. Some women choose to forfeit events rather than face transgender opponents, knowing that it is either too dangerous or too unfair. What kind of message does this send to young, aspiring female athletes? At any moment, a man can undo years of dedication and hard work, simply by turning up—and women are expected to simply accommodate him. 

Here’s to hoping that the IOC goes ahead with the ban on trans athletes. Enough really is enough. Whether an athlete was born intersex, transitioned before puberty, or got in touch with his feminine side later in life, there should be no place for him in women’s sports. It is both unsafe and unjust. And, crucially, it flies in the face of common sense. Fair play should mean female-only, without exception.