Newly elected IOC President Kirsty Coventry, in her first press conference, stated there is "overwhelming support" by IOC members to protect the female category. The Times reports now that she is on her way to doing just that as a ban on transgender athletes is expected to be announced soon.
The current policy states that trans women can compete with reduced testosterone levels if that sport allows it. However, the committee recently listened to a report from their medical and scientific director Dr. Jane Thornton, which states that there are physical advantages being born male that cannot be taken away.
According to an inside source, the response to this report was positive. A new policy could be announced around the Winter Olympics in February, but the ban will not be enforced until the 2028 Summer Olympic in Los Angeles.
Steve McConkey, president of 4 WINDS USA, has been following this issue for 20 years, fighting for fairness in women's competition.
"What this is saying is that amateur sports are no longer going to put up with the deception that a man can compete as a woman," states McConkey.
McConkey says that Coventry can empathize with athletic women who have sacrificed much only to face competition from biological males. Furthermore, Coventry can sympathize with female athletes since she was a top-level competitor.
"She is a many times gold medalist and a great athlete from Africa. But she firmly, as a woman, was going to do something," states McConkey.
Besides the influence of the new president, he speculates on the IOC’s change in making this decision.
“I think the grassroots movement started increasing, and I started seeing a report, even from the United Nations, talking about transgenders in sports and that it wasn't fair,” states McConkey.
According to the New York Post, a released United Nations study finds nearly 900 biological females have fallen short of medals because they have been beaten by transgender athletes.
He says that, although a final decision has not been make, he believes that it is a done deal.
“In the sense that — I think they've done polls, and they'll ask the individual people from different countries what they think about it. So, it's not just going to be a thing where all of a sudden they come together in February and decide against transgender athletes,” states McConkey.
