A level playing field

In February, the cities of Milan and Cortina d´Ampezzo, Italy, are co-hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics, which are now expected to provide fair and safe competition for female athletes.

As of press time, the New York Post reported that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is “set to ban transgender women from competing in all female categories.” The committee’s official announcement is expected in early 2026.

“The decision to overhaul the current policy was made after the sporting committee carried out a science-based review of a biologically born male’s physical advantages,” according to the New York Post.

Under current guidelines, biological males with reduced testosterone levels have been allowed to compete in the female category.

The IOC’s anticipated decision to ban males from all female Olympic events follows a similar decision made by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) in July 2025. The USOPC, which governs U.S. athletes, now prohibits men from competing in women’s sports. The decision was in response to an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which was issued by U.S. President Donald Trump in February 2025.

While the USOPC’s decision is in compliance with current federal requirements, Doreen Denny, senior advisor at Concerned Women for America (CWA), does not believe the committee’s policy goes far enough to create meaningful protection for women athletes. CWA (concernedwomen.org) is “the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization,” according to its website.

Denny recently spoke with The Stand to discuss the impact of the USOPC change.

The Stand: How did Trump’s order lead to USOPC’s decision?

Doreen Denny: President Trump’s leadership has been crucial to turning the tide on trans-inclusion policies that have stripped female athletes of their rights to equal opportunities in sports. [His] executive order has achieved a new and much-needed accountability for fairness and safety in women’s sports.

TS: What is the significance of the change?

DD: For over a decade, the USOPC has actively discriminated against female athletes by forcing them to compete against males. … The eligibility rule change for the women’s category is a significant step to correcting the USOPC’s trans-activist stance. Also important is the USOPC’s requirement that national sports governing bodies revise policies allowing men to compete in the women’s category.

TS: What else can be done to keep men out of women’s sports?

DD: We’re seeing a lack of any requirement for sex verification. Governing bodies like USA Volleyball are simply relying on documents that record a person’s sex, rather than verifying [a person’s] actual sex. Sex verification is necessary to restore integrity, fairness, and safety in women’s sports.

TS: What are some examples of sex verification?

DD: Two international sports governing bodies, World Athletics (track and field) and World Boxing, are leading the way with mandatory sex testing. At the world championships in September 2025, World Boxing required every athlete to complete a one-time, non-invasive genetic test to verify [his or her] sex category.

The actions of these two international governing bodies are a huge development that now sets a standard for the IOC, USOPC, and [other] sports-governing bodies.

TS: What can be done at a grassroots level to further protect female athletes and women’s sports?

DD: We [need] to have universal policies in every sporting context and full enforcement of Title IX to uphold the reality and dignity of “women athletes” being female.

Truthful pediatric physicals and unaltered documents recording natal sex [must be] required by every school in every state.

Until once-in-a-lifetime sex verification testing is a required protocol, there is no certainty that males claiming female identity will be fully excluded from competing in any local, national, world, or Olympic competition.