Former Olympic gold medalist Sebastian Coe is aiming to become president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2025, and has released a manifesto outlining his vision as president.
Coe's manifesto highlights the importance of protecting female athletes in a year plagued by global outrage over transgender athletes in women's sport.
Unlike current IOC president Thomas Bach, Coe is adamantly opposed to including transgender people in the women's category and said he would consider banning transgender athletes altogether. In an interview with Sky News on Thursday.
Coe is currently the head of World Athletics, the governing body for international athletics competitions.
In 2023, the governing body tightened regulations for trans athletes, banning transgender women who have passed male puberty from competing in the women's division.
This regulation also reduced maximum testosterone levels for eligible female competitors.
Mr Coe told Sky News that if he were elected IOC president, the Olympics would “probably” get new policies that mirror the current restrictions in world athletics.
“We're going to have a very clear policy with no ambiguity,” Mr Coe said. “We are clear that at World Athletics, transgender athletes will not compete in the elite-level women's categories.”
Coe declined to say whether he supported mandatory gender eligibility testing for Olympic athletes.
While criticizing the IOC's current policy on this issue, Mr Koh referred to recent events at the Paris Olympics.
The recent Summer Games were overshadowed by controversy when Algeria's Imane Kherif and Taiwan's Lin Yuting won gold medals in women's boxing.
Both athletes had previously been disqualified from international competitions for failing gender eligibility tests.
However, the IOC and current president Thomas Bach supported both athletes' participation, insisting that they were eligible to compete as women under current rules.
“If there is a vacuum in this policy position, we will end up with something like what we witnessed in Paris,” Coe said.
Mr Coe previously said in an interview with the BBC in November that he found the situation surrounding Mr Kerif and Mr Lin “uncomfortable”.
Neither player has been confirmed as transgender.
The United Nations has released a study that found nearly 900 biological women did not reach the podium because they lost to transgender athletes.
The study, titled “Violence against women and girls in sport,” found that more than 600 athletes won medals in more than 400 competitions in 29 different sports, according to information obtained up to March 30. It is said that there were more than 890 medals in total that could not be won.
“With the replacement of women's sports categories with mixed categories, more female athletes are losing out on medal opportunities when competing against men,” the report said.
In the United States, transgender participation in women's sports in 2024 has become an issue highly opposed, especially by conservatives, but some liberals have also voiced their opposition.
Polls show a majority of Americans disapprove of transgender inclusion in women's sports, which has been a key campaign issue for Trump and other Republicans in recent election cycles.
Nearly 70% of Americans believe biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. According to a Gallup poll The one I took last year.
In a survey conducted in June, Conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago Respondents asked to comment on whether transgender athletes of both genders should be allowed to participate in sports leagues that correspond to their desired gender identity rather than their biological sex.
65% said it should never or rarely be allowed. When asked specifically about adult transgender female athletes competing on women's sports teams, 69% disagreed.
