The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Thursday that it will reintroduce genetic testing to determine eligibility for participation in female category events, starting with the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. This measure will apply to all female events at the Olympic Games and other IOC competitions, including both individual and team sports.
Eligibility will now be restricted to biological females, verified through a one-time screening of the SRY gene, which is linked to male sex determination. This screening can be conducted using a saliva test, cheek swab, or blood sample. In most cases, athletes will only need to undergo this test once in their lifetime.
Under the leadership of new IOC President Kirsty Coventry, the policy change comes in response to controversies that arose during the women’s boxing competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The event was overshadowed by a gender eligibility dispute involving Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting. Both athletes were barred from the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) 2023 World Championships after failing eligibility tests. However, the IOC permitted them to compete at the Paris Games, criticizing the IBA’s decision as sudden and arbitrary.
Despite the controversy, Khelif and Lin each secured gold medals at the Paris Olympics. Notably, Lin has since been cleared to compete in female categories at events organized by World Boxing, the governing body that will oversee boxing at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
It is significant that gender testing had not been used since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, marking this as a major policy reversal by the IOC.
