New Olympics chief calls for 'protecting' women's category amid global trans athlete wave
Print Close
By Jackson Thompson
Published June 26, 2025
The new president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Kirsty Coventry, addressed the topic of transgender athletes competing in women's sports at her first official news conference since taking over on Thursday, and said that there is "overwhelming support" by IOC members to protect the female category.
"We understand that there'll be differences depending on the sport … but it was very clear from the members that we have to protect the female category, first and foremost to ensure fairness," Coventry said.
"But we need to do that with a scientific approach and the inclusion of the international federations who have already done a lot of work in this area."
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
The new president added that there is "unanimous" support for coming to an agreement about how to amend the policy, and suggested the IOC may take inspiration from the World Athletics policy, which restricts biological males from competing in women's sports if those males have gone through male puberty.
"It was very clear from the membership the discussion around this has to be done with medical and scientific research at the core, so we are looking at the facts and the nuances and the inclusion of the international federations that have done so much of this work … having a seat at table and sharing with us because every sport is different," she said.
WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS TO NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN PROBE OF SJSU TRANS ATHLETE ALLEGEDLY CONSPIRING TO HARM TEAMMATE
"But it was pretty much unanimously felt that the IOC should take a leading role in bringing everyone together to try and find a broad consensus."
However, Coventry also said any changes likely wouldn't result in retroactively changing the results of past competitions that featured athletes with gender-eligibility questions. The 2024 Paris Olympics featured two boxers winning gold in women's competition, despite previously failing gender-eligibility tests for international competitions.
"We're not going to be doing anything retrospectively. We're going to be looking forward. From the members [it] was 'What are we learning from the past, and how are we going to leverage that and move that forward to the future?'" Coventry said.
Last year, the United Nations released study findings that say nearly 900 biological females have fallen short of the podium because they have been beaten out by transgender athletes.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The study, titled "Violence against women and girls in sports," said that more than 600 athletes did not medal in more than 400 competitions in 29 different sports, totaling over 890 medals, according to information obtained up to March 30.
"The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed-sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against males," the report said.
Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X , and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter . Print Close
URL
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/new-olympics-chief-calls-protecting-womens-category-amid-global-trans-athlete-wave
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
First female US ambassador to Russia to leave her role
The first female US ambassador to Russia is leaving her role after serving through one of the most difficult periods in relations between the two countries. Lynne Tracy, who has been based in Moscow, said she is "proud to have represented my country" in the Russian capital "during such a challenging time". There is no suggestion she has been removed from her role by the administration. The departure of the career diplomat appointed by former president comes as Russia and the United States discuss a potential reset in their ties, which sharply deteriorated after Moscow launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022. President Donald Trump has said there are potentially big investment deals to be struck, but is growing increasingly frustrated that his efforts to broker a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine have so far not resulted in a meaningful ceasefire. In a statement shared by the US embassy in Russia on Telegram, Ms Tracy said: "As I leave Russia, I know that my colleagues at the embassy will continue to work to improve our relations and maintain ties with the Russian people. "I have been inspired by my meetings with Russians who love their country and work every day for a better future. I would like to conclude with lines from Pushkin's poem 'To Chaadayev', which speak of the love for the Motherland that lives in each of us. Goodbye!" The embassy said it wanted to "express our gratitude for her contributions based on consistent diplomacy, deep respect for Russian culture, and dedicated service to the American people". Read more from Sky News: In a statement earlier this month, the embassy said Ms Tracy, who arrived in Moscow in January 2023 and was greeted by protesters chanting anti-US slogans when she went to the foreign ministry to present her credentials, would leave her post soon. She was notably involved in efforts to win the release of US citizens jailed in Russia, and former marine Paul Whelan, who were eventually freed in August 2024 as part of a big East-West prisoner swap. Ms Tracy, who took over from John Sullivan, had previously served as the second-highest official at the US Embassy in Moscow, the deputy chief of mission, from 2014 to 2017. She was the ambassador to Armenia at the time she was nominated to replace Mr Sullivan after he retired. Ms Tracy, who speaks Russian, had also worked at US diplomatic outposts including Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Kazakhstan. She majored in Soviet Studies and holds a law degree.
Fox News
33 minutes ago
- Fox News
Ex-Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy pleads for civil political discourse, warns 'democracy is at risk'
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy warned Thursday that the tone of political discourse and threats to judges are undermining the ability of the U.S. to serve as an example of freedom and democracy around the world. Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who retired in 2018 during President Donald Trump's first term, was speaking during a virtual forum about threats to the rule of law, as he defended the role of judges in a democracy and advocated for the need to protect them and their families from threats. "Many in the rest of the world look to the United States to see what democracy is, to see what democracy ought to be," Kennedy said during the "Speak Up for Justice" event, one day before the current Supreme Court justices are set to deliver their final rulings of the current term. "If they see a hostile, fractious discourse, if they see a discourse that uses identity politics rather than to talk about issues, democracy is at risk. Freedom is at risk," he continued. Kennedy did not mention Trump, even as other participants expressed concern about the barrage of threats and attacks against judges for blocking key parts of the president's political agenda during his second term, including his immigration policies, firings of federal workers and his implementation of broad-based tariffs. But Kennedy's remarks appeared to be sparked, at least in part, by the Trump administration's repeated attacks against judges who have ruled against him, including some whom he appointed during his first term. In March, Trump criticized U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg as a "radical left lunatic" and called for his impeachment after he attempted to block the administration from removing alleged Venezuelan gang members from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime presidential power Trump invoked. Last month, Trump attacked "USA-hating" judges as "monsters who want our country to go to hell." Trump's rhetoric has come alongside an uptick in threats against judges, according to POLITICO, although spokespeople for the administration have said the president is against any threats and that they would face prosecution from the Justice Department. Kennedy said "judges must have protection for themselves and their families" and that "judges are best protected when the public and our nation realize how central they are to our discourse." "We should be concerned in this country about, as I've already indicated, the tone of our political discourse," he said. "Identity politics are used so that a person is characterized by his or her partisan affiliation. That's not what democracy and civil discourse is about." Other participants at the forum, which featured judges from the U.S. and other countries who warned about how attacks on courts can threaten democracies, also took aim at Trump's statement denouncing the courts. Without mentioning Trump by name, U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, whose son was killed by a disgruntled lawyer who went to her New Jersey home in 2020, said disinformation about judges was spreading "from the top down," with jurists attacked as "rogue" and "corrupt." "Judges are rogue. Sound familiar? Judges are corrupt. Sound familiar? Judges are monsters. … Judges hate America," Salas said. "We are seeing the spreading of disinformation coming from the top down." Salas warned that the number of threats recorded against judges this year was reaching historic heights in the U.S., noting that the U.S. Marshals Service has tracked more than 400 threats against judges since January, when Trump was inaugurated. "We're going to break records, people, and not in a good way," she said.
Associated Press
41 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Sundhage faces her 'biggest challenge' as she prepares host nation Switzerland for Euro 2025
GENEVA (AP) — Soccer great Pia Sundhage's long international career stretches back a decade beyond the first Women's European Championship she won decisively for Sweden in 1984. Now aged 65, the two-time Olympic title-winning coach — both times for the United States — is preparing host nation Switzerland's team to kick off Euro 2025 next Wednesday. 'I would say it's the biggest challenge I have ever had,' said Sundhage, who has coached in a World Cup final, three Olympic gold-medal games and a Copa América final. 'It is really, really interesting.' Her first tournament coaching the Swiss is 41 years after the inaugural Euros was won in conditions that seem more than a lifetime ago for women's soccer. In 1984, the four-team UEFA competition was home-and-away semifinals and final, with second legs played weeks after the first in games of 70 minutes, not 90. The title was won in England with fewer than 3,000 fans in the stadium and no national television coverage. Sweden beat England in a penalty shootout after each won the home leg 1-0. At the muddy, rain-soaked home field of Luton Town, Sundhage added to her first-leg goal to score the winning spot-kick, captured in fuzzy footage of the game. The Swedish champions got home to find their victory celebrated in a rare two-page newspaper spread. 'That was just unique,' Sundhage recalled to reporters at a recent briefing. 'Two pages, are you kidding me? Oh look, there's a picture as well.' In 2025, Switzerland will play to packed stadiums in a 16-nation event that will set a tournament record of about 600,000 spectators. The venues are Switzerland's best and four of the eight also were used at the men's Euro 2008 co-hosted with Austria. Sundhage has been there for most stops on the women's soccer journey: helping Sweden win that first European title, then taking third place at the first Women's World Cup in 1991. She coached host Sweden to the Euro 2013 semifinals and now has a second chance with a home team. The challenge to get Switzerland tournament-ready has Sundhage drawing on what she learned coaching in China, the U.S, Sweden and Brazil — leaving her, she said, 'really rich' in experiences. 'All these different teams, countries have made me really open minded,' said the coach who believes passionately in teamwork though is very much her own person. After each Olympic title, in 2008 and 2012, she declined the traditional invitation for U.S. team gold medalists to visit the White House. From presidents on each side of the aisle. 'I felt like I'm not connected to the White House,' Sundhage explained recently. 'If I have a choice I can go in the other direction, I'm going to do that. Regardless, Bush or Obama, I'd rather go back to Sweden.' For five years she coached a stellar U.S. squad that was denied a World Cup title in 2011 by Japan only by a penalty shootout. She was immersed in a sporting culture where 'they know how to bring out the best,' Sundhage recalled. Switzerland is different, with players that have experience and promise yet a tendency their coach sees of taking too few risks, being too 'correct.' 'You have to get crazy. That means you are going to make a mistake. And that is scary for a Swiss player,' she suggested. 'The biggest mistake you can actually do is not trying,' said Sundhage, who defied social expectations in her Swedish childhood to forge a career in soccer. 'Otherwise you will never ever find out how good you are.' ___ AP soccer:
