By Suzanne Downing 
The International Olympic Committee is preparing to implement a blanket ban on transgender women competing in female events beginning with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, according to reports. It’s a move that would mark a major policy change in the sports world, where women are being marginalized.
Under current rules, each sport’s governing body determines whether transgender women can compete based on testosterone thresholds and other medical criteria. That system, in place since 2015, has produced sharp inconsistencies and flashpoints like the participation of New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
The proposed overhaul, championed by newly elected IOC President Kirsty Coventry, would end those inconsistencies by imposing a single, across-the-board prohibition. Coventry, a former Olympic swimming champion from Zimbabwe, campaigned on “protecting the integrity of the female category” and has reportedly made the issue a top priority early in her tenure.
While IOC officials insist that no final decision has been made, internal discussions have intensified since the Paris 2024 Games, where controversy flared over gender eligibility in boxing. IOC medical and science director Dr. Jane Thornton recently presented a scientific review to members in Lausanne addressing both transgender participation and athletes with “differences of sexual development,” also known as DSD.
According to multiple reports, an announcement could come as soon as February, though full implementation may take up to a year, likely placing the new rules in effect ahead of the 2026 Winter Games in Italy or, more definitively, the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The move would also align with US policy under President Donald Trump, who earlier this year signed an executive order barring transgender women from competing in female sports nationwide. Observers say the IOC’s effort to establish a unified global standard could avoid a potential political standoff as the Los Angeles Games approach.
A ban would represent a major pivot from the IOC’s 2021 “Framework on Fairness, Inclusion, and Non-Discrimination,” which urged individual sports to balance inclusion with competitive fairness and human rights.
If adopted, the rule change would mark a new era in international athletics and may restore public confidence in women’s competition.
I’ve never wanted to see the Olympics in person and cannot remember the last time I watched any of it on TV. I believe the Animal Olympics are more popular but I’ve never seen them either.
Men ….. no such thing as a “ transgender anything
Mom told us, “if you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all.” That’s it.