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Transgender women will be BANNED from competing in all female events at the Olympic Games. It follows the findings of a scientific review about the permanent physical advantages of being born male. A report from the Times says that the IOC are likely to announce their new policy early in new year. Until now, the IOC's guidance to Olympic sports has been that transgender women can compete with reduced testosterone levels, leaving it to individual sports to decide. That's set to change under new its president, Kirsty Coventry, who's pledged to protect the female category. It's added in the report that the committee's medical and scientific director, Dr Jane Thornton, presented the initial findings of the review to IOC members at a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland last week. Thornton, a Canadian former Olympic rower, is said to have told those present that scientific evidence showed there were physical advantages to being born male that remained with athletes, including those who've had treatment to reduce their testosterone levels. A source explained: "It was a very scientific, factual and unemotional presentation which quite clearly laid out the evidence. Another source with knowledge of the meeting said that there'd been hugely positive feedback from IOC members. It's claimed that the IOC is likely to announce the new policy in early 2026, possibly around the IOC session at the Winter Olympics in February. Coventry, a former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe who was elected this year, stated in June: "We understand there will be differences depending on the sports. "We should make the effort to place emphasis on the protection of the female category and we should ensure that this is done in consensus with all the stakeholders. 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." There will be more to follow on this breaking news story and Mirror Sport will bring you the very latest updates, pictures and video as soon as possible. Pleasecheck back regularly for updates on this developing story. Follow us on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, Twitter, Facebook or visit The Mirror homepage.
