The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) recently changed its policy to prohibit transgender women from competing in women’s events at the Olympics and Paralympics. “As of July 21, 2025, please refer to the USOPC athlete safety policy,” reads a recent note on the USOPC website about transgender athletes’ participation in sports.
In response to US President Donald Trump’s executive order on “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” the USOPC Athlete Safety Policy was updated and posted online under a new subsection called “Additional Requirements.” According to the addition, “The USOPC is committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport.”
According to the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act and Executive Order 14201 (Trump’s order), “The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities… to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment’
A procedure for resolving eligibility disputes for Olympic sports and other amateur competitions was established by the Stevens Act, which was passed in 1988.
In a memo to Team USA that ABC News and ESPN were able to obtain on Tuesday, USOPC president Gene Sykes and CEO Sarah Hirshland referred to Trump’s executive order from February, stating: “As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations.”
According to Trump’s executive order, any school or organization that permits transgender girls to play on girls’ teams faces the threat of losing federal funding because doing so would be in violation of Title IX, which guarantees equal sport opportunities for women in the United States. Institutions that prohibit women from participating in single-sex sports or using single-sex locker rooms must immediately comply with the order.
According to ESPN, the USOPC letter to governing bodies stated, “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.”
