On Thursday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed to a new eligibility policy that aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order on sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games, which means males are now excluded from women's events at the Olympics.
"Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females," the International Olympic Committee said, to be determined by a mandatory gene test once in an athlete's career.
The eligibility policy that will apply from the L.A. Olympics in July 2028 "protects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category," the IOC said.
"It's great news," Representative Greg Steube (R-Florida) told the Washington Watch program in response to the announcement.
He has repeatedly introduced legislation to keep men out of women's sports. His Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act has twice passed the House, but Steube says it has been sitting in the Senate because Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) refuses to do away with the filibuster.
"Obviously, that's never going to happen," said Steube. "It took a president like President Trump to do an executive order on this issue."
He said the IOC made a great decision, and he does not think it would have happened without the leadership of President Trump and his administration taking "a very common-sense stance."
The issue of males in female sports was big in the 2024 election. It is one of the reasons why athletes-turned-activists like Riley Gaines campaigned for Trump. He promised that he would put an end to the issue of males in female sports.
Then in February 2025, not long after re-entering office, Trump signed the executive order keeping men out of women's sports.
Though some people and politicians have spoken out against the measure, Steube believes most people, including Democratic moms, favor the ban.
"It's really good to see finally the international community coming around to reality and the fact of science," Rep. Staub told show host Jody Hice.
It is unclear how many, if any, men are competing with women at an Olympic level. None competed at the 2024 Paris Summer Games, though a weightlifter did at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 without winning a medal.
