Media365
United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has updated its rules to ban transgender women from competing in women’s Olympic sports. The change was made quietly on Monday and follows an executive order by president Donald Trump, signed in February this year.The new rule appears under the “Athlete safety policy” section on the USOPC website. It does not directly mention the word “transgender” or the name of Trump’s order — “Keeping men out of women’s sports.” Instead, it refers to it as “Executive order 14201.” No details have been shared yet about how the ban will be enforced.This policy change means that all sports federations in the US, including those for youth and amateur athletes, will now have to follow the same rule. Leaders of several Olympic sports confirmed that national bodies must now comply with the USOPC’s decision. The Olympic committee has 54 member organisations, according to its website.The USOPC confirmed the rule change in a statement on Tuesday. It said it had been in talks with federal officials since the executive order was signed. “As a federally chartered organisation, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” the statement said as quoted by New York Times. The committee also said it would help national sports bodies to follow the new rule.USA Fencing, one of the sports bodies under the Olympic umbrella, has already updated its policy. Starting 1 August, transgender women can no longer compete in the women’s category and must join the men’s events. The same rule applies to nonbinary, transgender men, and intersex athletes.The Olympic committee said it aimed to “protect opportunities for athletes” and would coordinate with global bodies like the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee to ensure women’s sports remain “fair and safe.”Until now, the USOPC had left decisions on transgender athletes to each sport’s governing body. It had earlier said it would rely on “real data and science” instead of ideology and that decisions should be made on a sport-by-sport basis.The IOC has also struggled with the issue over the years. It currently lets international sports bodies like World Athletics or the International Cycling Federation decide how to handle transgender participation in global events.
