Rules for Transgender Olympic Athletes Explained

As the 2024 Summer Olympics approach, transgender athletes continue to face restrictions in some sports.

Debates surrounding transgender athletes have grown in recent years, with conservatives opposing the participation of transgender athletes, arguing that it gives them an unfair advantage. As athletes prepare to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, which will begin July 26-August 11, transgender athletes are facing restrictions in some sports.

According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which recently updated its guidelines in January regarding the participation of transgender athletes in the Olympics, it is up to individual sports to determine whether transgender athletes can compete.

“This framework recognises both the need to ensure that everyone, regardless of their gender identity or sexual variation, can participate in sport in a safe and harassment-free environment that recognises and respects their needs and identity,” the committee said.

However, since the IOC allowed individual sports to set their own policies on trans participation, several sports have updated their policies, primarily regarding trans women.

Newsweek contacted the IOC via an online form for comment.

Required transition age

For the 2024 Paris Olympics, new guidelines require transgender women to complete their transition by age 12 to compete in the women’s category. This rule is intended to avoid any perceived unfair advantage that could come from male puberty.

Additionally, at least ten Olympic sports have restricted the participation of transgender athletes. These include athletics, cycling, swimming, rugby, rowing and boxing.

Both the World Athletics Association and the International Cycling Union have established strict criteria that generally exclude transgender women who transitioned after puberty from participating in women’s events. Additionally, some sports like cycling have introduced “open” categories in which both male-identifying and transgender athletes can compete.

According to Context News, World Rowing has issued a near-blanket ban on the participation of transgender women in women’s categories.

World governing bodies for athletics, swimming, rugby and cricket have banned transgender women from competing in female categories if they have reached puberty before beginning their transition.

Additionally, governing bodies for triathlon, tennis and archery require that testosterone levels be maintained within a specified limit.

The IOC had already issued guidelines in 2015 that limited athletes’ testosterone levels, forcing some to undergo treatments that the IOC now describes as “medically unnecessary.” Those guidelines specifically allowed any transgender athlete to compete as a woman as long as her testosterone levels were below 10 nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months before her first competition.

Physical Transition Requirement

Additionally, prior to 2016, the IOC required athletes to undergo genital surgery.

The restrictions continue following the death of New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, who became one of the first transgender athletes to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Most recently, American swimmer Lia Thomas, who became the first trans athlete to win a National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) title in 2022, filed a lawsuit against World Aquatics after its updated policy barred her from competing at the Olympics.

This comes as proponents of allowing transgender athletes to compete based on their gender identity argue that sport must be inclusive and accessible to all, regardless of gender identity, stressing the importance of equality and non-discrimination, noting that transgender athletes often face significant barriers in sport, including social stigma and discrimination.

In the United States, the issue has been left to the states. More than 20 have policies in place that restrict transgender athletes from participating in sports that match their gender identity. These laws have led to lawsuits, arguing that transgender athletes are being discriminated against.