U.S. Olympic Officials Ban Transgender Athletes From Competing in Women’s Sports

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has updated its “Athlete Safety Policy” to align with President Trump’s executive order to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports. 

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The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) updated a policy barring transgender women from competing in women’s sports. This change follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year. 

The policy, published quietly on the USOPC’s website, does not explicitly mention transgender athletes. However, the updated "Athlete Safety Policy” includes language which says the committee will comply with Trump’s order, signed in February. 

“The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities, e.g IOC, IPC, NGBs, to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act,” the document says. 

Executive Order 14201 is also known as Trump’s "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports." The order requires strict enforcement of single-sex participation in sports and threatens to withdraw federal funding from organisations failing to comply. 

“As a federally chartered organisation, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” the USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and president Gene Skyes wrote in a letter to the Team USA community. “Our revised policy emphasises the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.” 

It is unclear how the new USOPC rules will be enforced regarding trans athletes. As well as whether any Olympians would be banned from competition for the 2028 Olympics under the updated policy. 

A number of sports governing bodies, including swimming and athletics, have already banned transgender women from competing in the female category at elite levels. Now, the USOPC follows suit. 

The National Women’s Law Centre put out a statement condemning the move. “By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes,” said that organisation’s president and CEO, Fatima Gross Graves. 

The USOPC oversees approximately 50 national governing bodies (NGBs), many of which are involved at all levels of their respective sports, from grassroots to elite competition. This raises the possibility that local sports clubs may need to adjust their rules in order to maintain their memberships in the NGBs. 

The participation of transgender athletes in sports has become a nationwide battle in recent years, with critics primarily targeting trans girls and women. They portray the issue as a fight for athletic fairness.

Critics argue that trans athletes assigned male at birth may possess physical advantages over those assigned female at birth. However, trans athletes represent only a small portion of the overall competitive sports population. 

The NCAA already revised its participation policy for trans athletes to restrict competition in women’s sports to those assigned female at birth. This change came only a day after Trump signed his executive order aimed at banning trans athletes from girls’ and women’s sports. 

Female eligibility has become a central focus for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) under its new president, Kristy Coventry, who has emphasised an effort to “protect the female category.” 

The IOC has continued its approach of allowing individual sports federations to establish their own rules for the Olympics, and several have already begun implementing policies on the issue. 

Last year, over 400 athletes signed a letter asking the NCAA not to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. “Sports should never be for a select few,” the letter urges. It calls upon the NCAA to be on the “right side of history and affirm that sport is truly for us all.” 

“As athletes, we know firsthand that sport has the power to change lives,” the letter reads. “Allowing transgender athletes within the NCAA to participate in the sports they love as who they truly are alongside their teammates fulfils the true spirit of Olympism we all ascribe to.” 

The letter voices concerns that anti-trans legislation is “largely fueled by propaganda and deception” and fails to address the actual threats to women’s sports. 

Article written by Jana Van Nieuwenborgh