There has been multiple media reports suggesting that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will introduce a ban on people who are transgender from participating in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Previously the IOC has allowed the governing bodies of each individual sport to set the standard for inclusion of people who are transgender, but in June new IOC President Kristy Coventry announced the IOC would take the lead on setting the standards across all sports at the Olympics.
Today the IOC have stressed that no decision has been made yet, but that hasn’t stopped multiple media organisations reporting that a decision to ban transgender people across the board is expected, while anti-transgender and women’s rights group have celebrated the suggestion.
In September the IOC set up a working group to look into the issue of providing protections for female sport. It came after US President Donald Trump announced his government would not grant visas to athletes attending the next Olympic Games if they believed those athletes to be transgender.
A spokesperson for the IOC said an update from the working group had been delivered last week, but no decisions 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,” an IOC spokesperson said. “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.”
To date very few transgender athletes have participated in the Olympics. New Zealand weightlifter Lauren Hubbard participated in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but did not win any medals.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics two female boxers faced accusations that they were transgender, however both had been assigned as being female at birth.
