Whether to allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports already was a key debate among Olympic leaders before U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that puts pressure on them before the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
In a speech before signing the document on Wednesday, Trump said he wants the International Olympic Committee to change everything “having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.”
Outgoing IOC President Thomas Bach, who had a tense meeting with Trump during his first term in the White House, has avoided taking a strong stance on the subject, but many of the seven candidates running to replace him this year have.
Sebastian Coe, who heads World Athletics, the global body governing track and field, appeared to support Trump’s position on his X account.
“Preserving the integrity of competition in the female category is a fundamental principle of the sport of athletics and as we know everything starts in schools,” said Coe, a two-time 1,500-meter Olympic champion from Britain. “Establishing clear, unambiguous policies is a critical first step.”
Currently, the IOC just advises sports governing bodies that make the final decisions on eligibility. The IOC has allowed transgender athletes to participate at the Olympics since 2004, but it wasn’t until 2021 that the first openly transgender athletes competed.
The IOC election to replace Bach, whose 12-year limit is reached and leaves in June, is on March 20 at a meeting in Greece. Some of the candidates have made it clear where they stand on transgender participation.
“At World Athletics we have developed clear, consulted policies on female eligibility,” Coe wrote in his manifesto aimed at IOC voters. “I will advocate for clear, science-based policies that safeguard the female category.”
Another leading contender to replace Bach, Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., has also urged the IOC to set clear guidelines on the issue.
“The IOC has a fundamental duty to safeguard women’s sport by adopting a policy to maintain unambiguous distinctions between men’s and women’s categories,” Samaranch wrote in December.
‘Science-informed frameworks’ over ideology
In his election manifesto, the head of the ski federation, Johan Eliasch, said he wants the IOC to set the rules “guided by biological fact, not cultural trends.”
“Regardless of current testosterone levels, exposure to puberty creates sex differences in height, weight and so on which can provide a sporting advantage,” said Eliasch, urging “science-informed frameworks” over ideology.
The International Cycling Union followed the transgender policy of aquatics and athletics in July 2023, though its president David Lappartient was more cautious in his Olympic manifesto. He suggested the IOC should guide Olympic sports bodies with common principles while “we need to accept that the response may vary from one sport to the next.”
The only woman among the seven IOC candidates, two-time swimming Olympic gold medallist Kirsty Coventry, did not directly address the gender issue in her manifesto, writing instead of “strengthening women’s sports by protecting female athletes.”
But in an interview with the BBC two weeks ago, she said it’s the IOC’s duty to ensure equal opportunity and fairness.
Questioned last week at an IOC-hosted event for candidates, Coventry — the sports minister of Zimbabwe — said: “Along the road we are going to learn lessons, and we are going to get stronger and we are going to make better rules and regulations.”
The two other candidates — Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan and gymnastics federation president Morinari Watanabe — didn’t address transgender athletes in their documents, though Prince Feisal stressed gender equality and equality of opportunity.
Next IOC leader must work with Trump
The next IOC leader will need a functioning working relationship with the Trump administration ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics.
Trump said he had directed Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem “to deny any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying themselves as women athletes.”
Bach, the outgoing IOC president, on Thursday said he wasn’t familiar with Trump’s comments the night before.
“I’m not aware of these comments. Let’s see,” Bach said in Milan at an event to mark one year until the 2026 Winter Olympics open.
Later Thursday, the IOC responded to a request for comment on the issue, saying: “Working with the respective international sports federations, the IOC will continue to explain and discuss the various topics with the relevant authorities.”
