Donald Trump and Olympics on collision course over transgender ban vow

A key plank of Trump’s successful re-election campaign was promise to ‘keep men out of women’s sports’

Donald Trump is on a collision course with the International Olympic Committee over its gender eligibility criteria after regaining the United States presidency.
Trump repeatedly vowed to ban transgender women from women’s sport if elected to serve a second four-year term, which would end shortly after the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
He also voiced his opposition to the IOC’s decision to allow Algerian boxer Imane Khelif to compete at Paris 2024 despite her being disqualified from her sport’s World Championships for failing a gender eligibility test.
The then Republican nominee posted in response to Khelif winning her opening bout this summer: “I will keep men out of women’s sports!”
Trump made that promise a key plank of his election campaign, although it remains to be seen how any such move at a federal level might impact on LA 2028, which is being held in the Democrat stronghold of California.
The IOC has been approached for comment about Games rules that host cities are ordinarily required to abide by.
In the case of gender eligibility, these do not include a blanket ban on transgender women or those such as Khelif – who appears to have been born with differences of sexual development – competing in women’s events.
Such decisions on eligibility are delegated to international federations, many of which also do not prohibit entirely those born male from female categories.
Trump’s stance appears to have proven a major vote winner among women and one of his final rallies before the election saw a swim team who ousted a transgender athlete appear on stage in Salem to endorse him.
He invited the “brave” Roanoke College women’s swimming team to join him on the podium after once again proclaiming: “Keep men out of women’s sports.”
Lily Mullens, one of the team’s captains, thanked Trump for “standing with women” and accused his opponent Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden of presiding over a regime of “anti-woman sex-based discrimination”.
“As female athletes especially, we know that men have an inherent advantage over women in sports and, due to current policies, men are competing against women of all ages in all sports,” Mullens said.
Trump revealed just how far he was prepared to go to prevent that during an appearance on Fox News last month.
Asked: “How do you stop it? Do you go to the sports leagues? Do you go to the Olympics?”, he replied: “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”
One of Trump’s final campaign videos before Tuesday’s election also featured footage of Khelif, who won women’s welterweight gold at the Olympics, accompanied by a voice-over which said: “We surrendered our border, our pay cheques and our courage, our patriotism was called toxic. Men could beat up women and win medals.”
WHEN WE GET KNOCKED DOWN, WE DON’T STAY DOWN—WE GET UP AGAIN…FIGHT!FIGHT!!FIGHT!!!https://t.co/czQRkZmYUH pic.twitter.com/yEXLPcsoYu
That was after Trump had mocked Khelif during a rally following her triumph three months ago.
He said: “Who wants men to participate in women’s sports? I would like to congratulate the young woman who has evolved from a man to a woman. He… She won gold.”
He then brought up Khelif’s opening victory against Angela Carini, who quit 46 seconds into their fight after being struck on the nose.
Trump mimed the punch that left Carini in tears before saying: “He did this. She immediately [said], ‘Wow, nobody has ever hit me that hard’.
“Then he does it again and she immediately gives up.”
Trump: And I’d like to congratulate the young woman who transitioned from a man into a boxer. You saw he won. She won the gold medal. pic.twitter.com/PXY01K7i4B
Trump’s election win came hours after the IOC said Khelif was taking legal action over reports in France that leaked medical documents showed the boxer had male XY chromosomes.
An IOC spokesperson said: “We understand that Imane Khelif has taken legal action against individuals who commented on her situation during the Paris 2024, and is also preparing a lawsuit in response to the latest reporting.
“The IOC will not comment while legal action is ongoing, or on media reports about unverified documents whose origin cannot be confirmed.
“Imane Khelif has been competing in the women’s category in international boxing competitions for many years, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.”