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With the 2026 Winter Olympics just around the corner, the debate about transgender participation in women's sports is ramping up. While several international sports governing bodies – such as World Boxing and World Athletics – have declared they will require sex-verification tests for athletes competing in the female category, no U.S. national governing bodies have followed suit. At the Team USA Media Summit on Tuesday, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said that the USOPC doesn't govern individual sports and wouldn't commit to supporting sex testing for U.S. athletes. "We're here to be supportive and helpful," Hirshland said, according to Fox News. "But at the end of the day, defining eligibility for competitions has to happen at the individual sport level, whether that's globally or nationally." Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), says that Hirshland should resign due to her unwillingness to fully protect women's sports. "It is the USOPC’s job to ensure the safety and integrity of sport for female athletes. The USOPC CEO should resign for refusing to acknowledge and stand by the principle that women’s sport is for female athletes only. If Hirshland won’t stand up for women, she’s not worthy of leading the USOPC or representing our country," Nance said in a statement. "Hirshland is claiming that individual sports define eligibility, but ultimately, she is failing to lead at a critical time. She has a dismal record ignoring this injustice. The USOPC can, and should, support sex verification testing to make sure only biological women are competing in women’s sports," Nance continued. "If Hirshland cannot support this testing that will provide fair competition for female athletes, and cannot fully commit to preventing biological men from competing in women’s sport, she must go." According to CWA, trans-identifying males have "earned" nearly 2,000 gold medals in female-only sports in the United States. Additionally, trans-identifying male athletes have won nearly $500,000 in prize money in women's professional sports. Earlier this year, the USOPC adjusted its policy to comply with President Donald Trump's Executive Order on "Keeping men out of women's sports." However, the USOPC did not release any details on how it would determine eligibility for the female category. Typically in the United States, all a person needs to show is a birth certificate. Unfortunately, birth certificates can be changed in several states to reflect a person's "gender identity." With Milan–Cortina 2026 on the horizon, this is the moment for the USOPC to make its position clear: women's sports are for women. If the USOPC doesn't step up to protect fairness and privacy for American women, it sets a dangerous precedent for the rest of the country.
