Overview
- The IOC executive board approved the change on Thursday, restricting the female category at Olympic events to athletes who test negative for the SRY gene beginning with Los Angeles 2028.
- Athletes will take a one-time saliva, buccal swab or blood test for the SRY gene, and a positive result blocks entry to the female field except for rare cases like complete androgen insensitivity with no testosterone advantage.
- The policy applies across all IOC-run Olympic sports starting in 2028 and is not retroactive or applicable to recreational programs.
- The rule replaces the 2021 sport-by-sport approach and tasks international federations and national bodies with running the tests before the Games.
- Editors at a leading sports medicine journal, UN experts and jurists criticize the reintroduced genetic screening as unsupported and intrusive, and U.S. coverage notes President Donald Trump’s praise and likely legal challenges.