Sen. John Cornyn on Monday called on the International Olympic Committee to ban biological males from female sports ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, saying that “timely action is essential” to protect fairness and safety in the women’s category.
Mr. Cornyn thanked IOC President Kirsty Coventry for creating a working group to study the transgender-eligibility issue, but noted that the panel has not said whether it will make any policy changes before the winter games begin Feb. 4 in Milan, Italy.
“Reports indicate the working group is moving towards a complete ban on biological males competing in female events, but that decision is not yet confirmed,” said Mr. Cornyn in the letter obtained exclusively by The Washington Times. “I urge the IOC to move swiftly toward a clear and decisive policy that protects fair and safe competition for women and prohibits biological males from competing in female categories.”
The IOC executive board is scheduled to meet Jan. 31-Feb. 2 in Milan, followed by the 145th IOC Session in Milan on Feb. 3-4.
At that point, however, participating nations will have already selected their teams for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. Competition begins Feb. 4, with the opening ceremony scheduled Feb. 6 at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.
“The IOC’s announcement is not expected until next year, and it remains unclear if the new guidance will apply to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy,” Mr. Cornyn said. “With the Winter Games rapidly approaching in February and preparation well underway for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, timely action is essential.”
DOCUMENT: Sen. Cornyn’s letter to the International Olympic Committee
The IOC is expected to take a harder line on transgender and intersex athletes in women’s sports following a presentation earlier this month in Lausanne, Switzerland, by Dr. Jane Thornton, director of the IOC’s Health, Medicine, and Science Department.
Mr. Cornyn stressed scientific findings that biological males, even after hormone therapy, have significant physiological advantages over biological females.
“These advantages include greater bone density, enhanced muscle mass, improved aerobic capacity, and increased cardiac output. Any policy designed to protect fairness in women’s athletics must reflect these empirical realities,” the senator said.
The IOC acknowledged that Dr. Thornton updated the committee on the working group’s progress earlier this month, but refused to comment on the content or any recommendations.
“The working group is continuing its discussions on this topic and no decisions have been taken yet,” said the IOC in a Nov. 11 email to The Washington Times. “Further information will be provided in due course.”
The IOC has revised its transgender-eligibility policy several times in the last decade.
In 2015, the committee removed its surgery requirement for male-to-female transgender athletes, allowing them to compete in the women’s category as long as they kept their testosterone in serum under 10 nanomoles per liter.
That policy allowed the first openly transgender athlete, New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, to compete in the women’s category in the pandemic-delayed 2021 Tokyo Games, prompting a backlash from advocates for female athletes.
A few months later, the IOC updated its policy to defer to the international sports governing bodies on the issue of transgender eligibility, which permitted two sex-disputed boxers to win women’s gold medals at the 2024 Paris Games.
“As the IOC continues its deliberations, this issue has become a global policy concern and a question of athletic integrity,” Mr. Cornyn said in his letter.
Numerous international sports authorities, including World Athletics, the International Swimming Federation and the World Boxing Association, have adopted policies in recent years effectively prohibiting biological males in the women’s category.
Mr. Cornyn noted that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee changed its transgender-eligibility policy to comply with a Feb. 5 executive order issued by President Trump that threatens to withhold federal funds from organizations that fail to ban biological males from female athletics.
“These policies reflect the understanding that fairness, safety, and equal opportunity for women are compromised when biological males are permitted to compete in female sports,” Mr. Cornyn wrote in the letter. “In the United States, President Trump honored his unwavering commitment to women and girls with the issuance of Executive Order 14201: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
A four-term senator, Mr. Cornyn is running for reelection next year in a Republican primary field that includes Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt.
More than 3,500 athletes from 93 countries are expected to take part in the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.
