U.S. Olympic and Paralympic officials bar transgender women from Olympic women’s sports
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. 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 change, announced Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC’s website and confirmed in a letter sent to national 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 reference’s 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.
U.S. 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.
“As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes wrote in a letter. “Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.”
The nationwide battle over transgender girls on girls’ and women’s sports teams has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans portray the issue as a fight for athletic fairness. More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some policies have been blocked in court by those who say the policies are discriminatory, cruel and unnecessarily target a tiny niche of athletes.
The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after Trump signed the executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
Female eligibility is a key issue for the International Olympic Committee under its new president, Kirsty Coventry. The IOC has allowed individual sports federations to set their own rules at the Olympics — and some have already taken steps on the topic.
Stricter rules on transgender athletes — barring from women’s events anyone who went through male puberty — have been passed by swimming, cycling and track and field. Soccer is reviewing its eligibility rules for women and could set limits on testosterone.
Trump has said he wants the IOC to change everything “having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.” Los Angeles will host the Summer Games in 2028.
Government shuts down after Congress fails to reach a funding agreement
Much of the federal government is now shut down after Republicans and Democrats in the Senate failed to agree on a funding plan to keep the government open.
Issues/Program Report 3rd Quarter 2025
October 1, 2025 Per the FCC, this is a list of the most frequently cited issues of concern to the people in the WBHM listening area during the last quarter. […]
Change is brewing in the coffee industry. What lies ahead?
Coffee growers are facing climate change, labor shortages and incomes below the poverty line. On International Coffee Day, we take stock of the industry behind the beverage.
President announces TrumpRx website for drugs, and pricing deal with Pfizer
The Trump administration says it is making deals with drug companies to lower prices U.S. consumers pay for medicines. But key details are missing on how the initiative would work.
Trump administration uses taxpayer dollars to blame Democrats for government shutdown
Federal employees across the government reported seeing similar messages. Experts say the messages may violate ethics laws meant to keep partisan politics out of day-to-day governing.
A lawsuit tries to block the Trump administration’s efforts to merge personal data
A class action lawsuit argues that the administration's efforts to combine databases of personal information on Americans violates privacy laws and the Constitution.