The International Olympic Committe (IOC) is set to bring in new regulations governing women’s sport at the Olympics “in the next few months”, a spokesperson confirmed on Saturday.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry, who was elected in March last year, has made what has been termed the protection of the female category a key target after rows over gender eligibility at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won gold in Paris, found herself at the centre of a media storm after being disqualified by boxing’s disgraced former governing body, the International Boxing Association (IBA), for having allegedly failed an unspecified sex test before the 2023 world championships.
She was allowed to compete at the Olympics, which were run by the IOC, but has become a lightning rod for debates around gender eligibility in sport. US president Donald Trump has repeatedly incorrectly referred to her as a “male boxer” and cited her in an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
The 26-year-old told French outlet L’Equipe this week that she had undergone medically-supervised hormone treatments to lower her naturally high testosterone levels before competing at the Games, but is not transgender.
She confirmed that she has the sex-determining SRY gene, located on the Y chromosome, and was prepared to undertake the compulsory sex testing in order to defend her title in LA 2028.
Asked about Khelif’s comments, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said: “I haven’t seen the interview. In terms of protecting the female category, you'll know that for the new president, Kirsty Coventry, the IOC protecting the female category is one of the key reforms she wants to put in.
“It’s going to be happening, I would say, shortly or within the next few months. It’s been out for consultation, we've had pause to reflect on it. I think generally speaking there is a consensus within the sporting community. I think you will have a new policy in the first half of this year I would say.”
Several individual sports’ governing bodies have already brought in compulsory sex testing to determine eligibility to compete in the female category.
Khelif, who was born, raised as and has always identified as a woman, told L’Equipe: “I have female hormones. And people don't know this, but I have taken hormone treatments to lower my testosterone levels for competitions.
“We all have different genetics, different hormone levels. I’m not transgender. My difference is natural. This is who I am. I haven't done anything to change the way nature made me. That’s why I’m not afraid.”
Khelif told CNN last week that she respected the IOC’s authority but added: “They should protect women, but they need to pay attention that while protecting women, they shouldn’t hurt other women.”
