(MENAFN) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is reportedly preparing to prohibit transgender women from competing in female categories across all Olympic sports, following a “scientific review” on the lasting physical advantages associated with male puberty.

According to reports, the policy, expected to be announced early next year under IOC President Kirsty Coventry, is based on findings that the benefits of being born male “remain even after testosterone suppression.”

The review was presented last week in Lausanne, Switzerland, by Dr. Jane Thornton, a Canadian sports medicine physician, IOC medical and scientific director, and former Olympic rower. “It was a very scientific, factual, and unemotional presentation which quite clearly laid out the evidence,” a source familiar with the meeting told reports, adding that IOC members’ feedback was “hugely positive.”

The new rules are set to replace the IOC’s previous guidance, which allowed transgender athletes to compete if their testosterone levels were reduced, leaving eligibility decisions to individual sports federations.

Coventry, a former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe who assumed office this year, has emphasized that the committee seeks to “place emphasis on the protection of the female category” while maintaining a “scientific approach” in collaboration with international federations.

The forthcoming policy is also expected to address athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD), following controversies involving competitors such as Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, who won gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics despite prior eligibility disputes.

An official announcement could come as early as February, during an IOC session ahead of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, pending final legal review of the new regulations.

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