Following the publication on Thursday of a new eligibility policy by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), transgender women are now excluded from women's competitions at the Olympic Games, in accordance with the executive order on sport promoted by US President Donald Trump in preparation for the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
The ten-page document, made public after an executive committee meeting, also includes restrictions for certain athletes, including Caster Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion, who have medical conditions grouped under the term differences of sex development (DSD).
At a press conference in Cape Town after a race, Semenya strongly criticized IOC President Kirsty Coventry: "She is African, I am sure she understands that we Africans from the Global South cannot control genetics."
Before the Paris 2024 Games, three high-level disciplines, athletics, swimming and cycling, had already excluded transgender women who had undergone male puberty.
Caster Semenya, born female in South Africa and with testosterone levels higher than the female average, had obtained a partial victory at the European Court of Human Rights in her long legal battle against the rules of athletics, without having them overturned.
“We know this is a sensitive issue,” Kirsty Coventry said during an online press conference. The IOC president emphasized the organization’s desire to establish a clear policy, rather than continuing to simply advise sports federations, which have so far developed their own rules.
“At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margin can decide victory or defeat,” added Coventry, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming. “So it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the women’s category.” She had launched a review last June aimed at “protecting the women’s category,” marking one of her first major decisions as the first woman to lead the IOC in 132 years.
"If the science is clear, show us who decided and don't disguise it as a lie, because it is a lie," Semenya replied, vigorously criticizing the judgment.
