The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has barred transgender women from competing in Olympic women’s sports, complying with an earlier order by President Donald Trump.
The document does not mention the word “transgender”, but refers to Trump’s order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” on February 5 which bans transgender females from women’s sports teams and threatens a loss of funding for educational institutions that violate the policy.
“The USOPC will ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment, consistent with Executive Order 14201,” according to the Athlete Safety Policy published on the USOPC website.
With his return to office in January, Trump has dismantled transgender rights protections enacted by former President Joe Biden’s administration, ended federal support for “chemical and surgical mutilation” of those under the age of 19, issued a decree recognising only male and female genders and banned transgender individuals from serving in the military.
The participation of transgender athletes in international competitions has been a source of widespread controversy. Two boxers in the female division, Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting, won gold medals at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics after being disqualified from the 2023 World Championship for testing for the male set of chromosomes. Trump later called them men who “transitioned”.
In 2022, transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, initially a member of the University of Pennsylvania men’s team, won the NCAA 500-yard women’s freestyle. The following year, the World Athletics Council banned transgender women who had gone through puberty as male, from female competitions.
