IOC President Coventry Plans Scientific Approach to Protect Female Sports at 2028 Olympics

Kirsty Coventry, the new International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, has announced a decisive shift in policy to protect female sports categories by implementing a scientific and unified approach across international federations. This move, which includes forming a taskforce of scientists and federations, aims to ban transgender athletes from competing in female categories to ensure fairness, a response sparked by controversies such as the 2024 Paris Olympic boxing tournament where athletes faced gender eligibility disputes. Coventry emphasized the importance of a sport-by-sport approach and cited World Athletics' existing ban on transgender women competing in female sports as inspiration. The IOC will not take retrospective action concerning past competitions like Paris 2024 but is focused on future events including the 2028 Los Angeles Games. This policy marks a clear change from the previous IOC stance that deferred gender eligibility decisions to individual sports bodies. Coventry's leadership reflects strong consensus within the IOC membership to prioritize fairness and female athlete protection while engaging scientific expertise and international cooperation.