U.S. Olympic Committee Bans Men In Women’s Sports

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee quietly changed its policy this week to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order and ban men from competing against women.

The move marks another major win for conservatives and the Trump administration, who have fought to protect women’s sports. The committee, which posted an update to its Athlete Safety Policy on Monday, stated that it would “continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities … to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act,” NBC News reported.

Executive Order 14201 refers to Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” action that he signed on February 5. The U.S. Olympic Committee’s updated policy flew under the radar when the change was made on Monday since it does not mention the word “transgender” in any of its 27 pages. The committee confirmed that the men are now banned from competing against women, saying it held “a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials” after Trump signed the executive order, according to The New York Times.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s decision doesn’t necessarily mean that other countries will prevent men from competing in women’s sports, but the committee said it would work with international groups, such as the International Olympic Committee, to focus on providing safe and fair environments for women. The next Summer Olympic Games will be held in the United States under Trump’s watch in 2028. The 2026 Winter Olympics will be hosted by Italy.

In the 2024 Summer Games, Imane Khelif of Algeria, a boxer who had failed gender tests, dominated the women’s welterweight division and won the gold medal. Khelif’s success in Paris drew outrage across the globe. In 2021, trans-identifying man Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand competed against women in weightlifting in the Tokyo Games, but Hubbard did not compete in Paris. Chelsea Wolfe, a man who identifies as a woman, was also at the Tokyo Olympics as a reserve cyclist for the U.S. women’s BMX Freestyle team.

Recent polling from NBC News showed that a vast majority (75%) of Americans do not want trans-identifying men competing against women in female sports. That included two out of three people in Gen Z, who want women’s sports to be protected from men.