Transgender athletes face blanket Olympics ban as leading candidate to become IOC president says 'protecting the female category is paramount'
Transgender athletes face blanket Olympics ban as leading candidate to become IOC president says 'protecting the female category is paramount'
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Transgender athletes are facing a blanket ban from female categories across every sport at the Olympics after a candidate for the International Olympic Committee presidency backed the measure, vowing to ensure equal opportunity for women. Kirsty Coventry, a member of the IOC executive board since 2018 and the most decorated Olympian from Africa, supports an Olympic-wide gender policy that would prevent transgender women from being able to compete in female categories.
![[Laurel Hubbard was the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics in 2021]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/28/16/94602655-14334433-image-a-4_1738082368993.jpg)
Individual sports were effectively able to set their own rules during the Paris Olympics last year, but this stance created a myriad of different policies. In some cases, athletes who had gone through male puberty were prevented from competing in events such as athletics and swimming but may have been eligible in women's football. Several IOC candidates have vowed to ensure future clarity.
![[Imane Khelif won a boxing gold in Paris despite failing a gender eligibility test in 2023]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/28/16/94602665-14334433-image-a-5_1738082371551.jpg)
There are also sport-by-sport differences regarding athletes' sexual development. Under Lord Coe's leadership, World Athletics have implemented stringent measures over transgender athletes competing as women. It was ruled that athletes must reduce or maintain their testosterone level to below 2.5 nanomoles per litre.
Kirsty Coventry, a leading candidate to become the new IOC president, has backed a blanket ban on transgender athletes competing in female categories at the Olympics. Laurel Hubbard was the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics in 2021.
