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NEW YORK – EXCLUSIVE: Leaders of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said they are exploring the use of sexual genetic testing as part of their new commitment to protect women’s sports from biological trans male athletes, and received praise from President Donald Trump’s White House.
The White House provided a statement to PK Press Club Digital in response to comments made by USOPC officials during a press conference Tuesday, praising Trump’s executive order “Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports” and announcing that the organization was exploring sexual genetic testing options for U.S. teams.
“Keeping men out of women’s sports is essential to ensuring the safety of female athletes and preserving the integrity of these elite events. As President Trump has said repeatedly, this is an issue supported by 97 percent of the American public, and adopting this measure at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles will ensure fairness for all of the world’s best athletes,” White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly told PK Press Club Digital.
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USOPC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jonathan Finnoff said SRY genetic testing used by World Athletics and World Boxing is “not common” in the United States, but suggested the USOPC is currently exploring the possibility of using sex testing options for its own teams.
“It’s not necessarily very common to take this specific test in the United States, so our goal was to help identify labs and options for athletes to take this test. And based on that experience, and knowing that other international federations will likely follow suit, figure out how we can make this process seamless…that’s where we are right now,” Finnof said. “But we have a good process in place.”
Meanwhile, USOPC Board Chairman Gene Sykes called Trump’s executive order to prevent men from participating in women’s sports “consistent with the international trend.”
“And fortunately, the executive order to protect women’s sports in the United States is very much in line with the international trend,” Sykes said. “There is an expectation that this is where world sport, international sport is going.”
Trump previously said there would be a “very strict form of testing” in response to a question about mandatory genetic testing for women’s sports at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“I think there is going to be a very strong test form“There will be a very, very severe form of testing, and if the test is not done appropriately, then they will not participate in the Olympics.”
In late July, the USOPC changed its athlete safety policy to suggest compliance with Trump’s executive order “Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
“The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities…to ensure that women benefit from a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201,” the policy states.
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The new president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Kirsty Coventry, broached the subject of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports in her first news conference since taking office in June and said there was “overwhelming support” from IOC members to protect the women’s category.
“We understand that there will be differences depending on the sport… but it was very clear from members that we need to protect the women’s category, first and foremost to ensure fairness,” Coventry said. “But we need to do it with a scientific approach and including international federations who have already done a lot of work in this area.”
The new president added that there is “unanimous” support for reaching agreement on how to change the policy and suggested the IOC could take inspiration from World Athletics’ policy, which prohibits biological males from competing in women’s sports if they have reached male puberty.
“It was very clear from the membership that the discussion on this needed to be conducted with medical and scientific research at the center, so we are looking at the facts and the nuances and the inclusion of international federations who have done a lot of this work… taking a seat at the table and sharing with us because every sport is different,” she said.
A presentation at a World Athletics panel in Tokyo in September revealed that 50 to 60 athletes with male biological advantages have been finalists in the women’s category at world and continental championships since 2000.
The panel was led by World Athletics Head of Health and Science, Dr Stéphane Bermon, who said: sex tests were necessary due to an “overrepresentation” of DSD (differences of sexual development) athletes among the finalists, according to multiple reports.
Last October, the The United Nations said that nearly 900 biological women failed to make the podium because they were beaten by trans athletes.
The findings were compiled by Reem Alsalem, UN rapporteur on violence against women and titled “Violence against women and girls in sport.”
The report said more than 600 athletes failed to medal in more than 400 competitions in 29 sports, totaling more than 890 medals, according to information obtained as of March 30.
“The replacement of the women’s sporting category with a mixed category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against men,” the report said.
