The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has officially barred transgender women from competing in women’s sports, aligning its policy with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14201 — titled the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order — which was signed into law on February 5, 2025.
The decision was reflected in an updated version of the USOPC’s “Athlete Safety Policy,” published Monday, July 21. While the 27-page document does not explicitly mention transgender athletes, it affirms the committee’s commitment to ensuring a “fair and safe competition environment” for women, and cites compliance with both Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act.
“As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” the USOPC said in a statement, adding that it had engaged in “a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials” following the executive order’s announcement.
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The executive order declares that allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports is “demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls,” and asserts the policy aims to restore equal opportunity and fairness in female athletic competition.
The USOPC also noted it would continue collaborating with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and various national governing bodies (NGBs) to implement the changes in compliance with federal directives.
Passed in 1998, the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act governs the USOPC and Olympic governance in the United States. Its predecessor, the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, first established the USOPC’s authority and laid the foundation for national governing bodies of Olympic and Paralympic sports.
The policy update comes amid ongoing national debates over transgender participation in sports, an issue that played a central role in President Trump’s 2024 campaign and has now become a major initiative during his second term.
