Overview
- The IOC, which announced the policy Thursday, plans a one-time screen for the SRY gene to decide who can enter women’s events at the 2028 Olympics.
- Speaking Sunday in Cape Town, Caster Semenya condemned the tests as disrespectful to women and harmful to girls and said she will seek a court ruling and rally a class-action effort.
- Under the new rule, trans women would be barred from the women’s category, with the IOC saying the change protects fairness and safety.
- The policy stems from a working group set up by IOC President Kirsty Coventry after disputes in women’s boxing at Paris 2024 that centered on Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting.
- Critics, including athletes and scientists, say an SRY check is not a clear medical yardstick and warn it could expose private health facts and sideline women with differences in sex development, reviving tests last used at the Olympics in 1996.