US Olympics, Paralympics Ban Trans Women From Women's Sports

The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee has effectively barred transgender women from competing in women's sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an "obligation to comply" with an executive order issued by President Trump, the AP reports. The new policy, announced Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC's website and confirmed in a letter sent to national sport governing bodies, follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year.

The USOPC change is noted obliquely as a detail under "USOPC Athlete Safety Policy" and references Trump's executive order, "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," signed in February. That order, among other things, threatens to "rescind all funds" from organizations that allow transgender athlete participation in women's sports. US Olympic officials told the national governing bodies they will need to follow suit, adding that "the USOPC has engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials" since Trump signed the order. The National Women's Law Center put out a statement condemning the move. "By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes," said that organization's president and CEO.

"All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment," USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes wrote in a letter. The USOPC oversees around 50 national governing bodies, most of which play a role in everything from the grassroots to elite levels of their sports. That raises the possibility that rules might need to be changed at local sports clubs to retain their memberships in the NGBs.

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Some of those organizations—for instance, USA Track and Field—have long followed guidelines set by their own world federation. World Athletics is considering changes to its policies that would mostly fall in line with Trump's order. Female eligibility is a key issue for the International Olympic Committee under its new president, Kirsty Coventry, who has signaled an effort to "protect the female category." The IOC has allowed individual sports federations to set their own rules at the Olympics—and some have already taken steps on the topic.