On Monday, July 21, 2025, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) updated its Athlete Safety Policy to bar transgender women from competing in women’s categories at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, aligning with President Donald Trump’s February 2025 Executive Order 14201, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” The policy change, quietly posted on the USOPC website, adds a subsection titled “Additional Requirements,” stating that the USOPC will collaborate with stakeholders like the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to ensure “fair and safe competition environments for women” consistent with the executive order and the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. A memo from USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes, obtained by ABC News and ESPN, emphasized the organization’s obligation as a federally chartered entity to comply with federal expectations, noting ongoing discussions with federal officials.
The executive order threatens to withhold federal funds from institutions allowing transgender girls or women to participate in women’s sports or use single-sex locker rooms, citing Title IX violations. NGBs, including USA Fencing, which updated its policy effective August 1, 2025, to restrict women’s events to athletes assigned female at birth, are required to align with the USOPC’s directive. Transgender women, nonbinary, transgender men, and intersex athletes will now compete in men’s categories. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) similarly revised its policy post-order, limiting women’s sports to those assigned female at birth. The decision follows stricter international federation rules in sports like swimming and cycling, with soccer reviewing testosterone limits, as the IOC, under new president Kirsty Coventry, prioritizes female category protection ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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