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≡ USOPC PARTICIPATION RULES ≡
On Monday (21st), a notation was added to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s Web page on “Our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Statement,” in the section on “Transgender Athlete Participation in Sport.”
The page noted at the top:
“As of July 21, 2025, please refer to the USOPC athlete safety policy.”
The 27-page Athlete Safety Policy included a new section 3.3:
“3.3 Additional Requirements
“The USOPC is committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport. The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities, e.g., [International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, National Governing Bodies] to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act, 36 U.S.C § 22501, et. seq.”
That’s a direct reference to President Donald Trump’s 5 February Executive Order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which included:
“[I]t is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
The Order refers directly to a 20 January Executive Order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which states:
“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. … ‘Sex’ shall refer to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female. ‘Sex’ is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ‘gender identity.’”
Translation: transgender women are not allowed to compete in the women’s category.
The “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order also included directives concerning organizations like the USOPC:
● “The Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy shall, within 60 days of the date of this order:
“(i) convene representatives of major athletic organizations and governing bodies, and female athletes harmed by such policies, to promote policies that are fair and safe, in the best interests of female athletes, and consistent with the requirements of Title IX, as applicable.”
● “The Secretary of State shall use all appropriate and available measures to see that the International Olympic Committee amends the standards governing Olympic sporting events to promote fairness, safety, and the best interests of female athletes by ensuring that eligibility for participation in women’s sporting events is determined according to sex and not gender identity or testosterone reduction.”
The IOC, under new President Kirsty Coventry (ZIM), working on a wide-ranging consultation to “protect the female category.”
The USOPC has now taken a position that it will comply with applicable Executive Orders, and in time to comply in advance of nearly all of the qualifying events for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games and Winter Paralympic Games in Milan Cortina. No transgender women on the U.S. Olympic or Paralympic teams.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Administration officials had conferred with the USOPC on the matter and that a USOPC statement explained that “as a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations.”
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