Olympics: Female events limited to ‘biological females’ – IOC

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday it was re-introducing genetic testing for gender to determine eligibility for “any female category event”, beginning with the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females, determined on the basis of a one‑time SRY gene screening,” IOC said in a statement.

The SRY screening will be done through a saliva test, cheek swab or blood sample and in the vast majority of cases will be a “once-in-a-lifetime test”.

The IOC, under its new president Kirsty Coventry, is bringing in the new policy after the women’s boxing competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics was rocked by a gender row involving Algerian fighter Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan.

Khelif and Lin were excluded from the International Boxing Association’s 2023 world championships after the IBA said they had failed eligibility tests.

However, the IOC allowed them both to compete at the Paris Games, saying they had been victims of “a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA”.

Both boxers went on to win gold medals.

Lin has since been cleared to compete in the female category at events run by World Boxing, the body that will oversee the sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Gender-testing was last used at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.