President Donald Trump has taken a significant step forward in his push to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports at the 2028 Summer Olympics, following a substantial policy shift by U.S. immigration authorities. It has been a known fact that Donald Trump’s radical policies regarding gender have sparked massive backlash since the time he returned to office.
Trump has prioritised what he calls “protecting women’s sports.” Now, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has tightened visa eligibility rules—restricting transgender women athletes from entering the U.S. to compete in female sporting categories. Earlier, he passed a rule recognising only two official genders in America, male and female.
As per The Irish Star, the updated USCIS policy, which was announced on August 4, includes that male-born athletes competing in women’s sports may now be considered a negative factor in visa applications, especially for high-skill categories like the O-1A visa (for individuals with extraordinary ability), EB-1 and EB-2 green cards, and national interest waivers.
Meanwhile, in a recent update to its Athlete Safety Policy, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) announced a ban on transgender women competing in women’s events—an action taken to comply with President Trump’s Executive Order 14201, known as the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
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The 27-page policy does not explicitly mention transgender athletes but highlights its commitment to ensuring fair and safe competition for women. USOPC President Gene Sykes and CEO Sarah Hirshland said, “This updated policy underscores the importance of maintaining fair and secure competition environments for women athletes.”
Consequently, those institutions and sports authorities who do not abide by the new rules will be strictly prohibited from getting funding from the government. Several institutions, like the University of Pennsylvania, have already accepted the rules, while many other sports bodies, like FIFA nd other federations, are still reviewing policies.
The World Athletics Council has approved new regulations concerning eligibility conditions to compete in the female category for world ranking competitions.
The new regulations come into effect on 1 September 2025 and will be applied to the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25… pic.twitter.com/BO8Lz4kfwS
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 30, 2025
Meanwhile, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe recently announced that Olympic athletes may be subject to DNA testing to verify biological s-x, a proposal made shortly after his unsuccessful bid for the IOC presidency.
The 2028 Summer Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles for the third time. The global event will have around 36 sports, including five new exciting additions like baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash.
World Athletics has introduced a gene test for the female category in a bid to protect the “integrity of women’s sport”.
Their president Sebastian Coe told DW in January already, transgender athletes are “a threat to the female category at elite level”. pic.twitter.com/eNiZ3BvGgo
— DW Sports (@dw_sports) July 31, 2025
For the first time, all team sports will feature at least as many women’s teams as men’s; therefore, it’s unclear if Trump’s new policies will bar current eligible Olympians from taking part while keeping the true essence of the game.
Flag football and squash are now officially Olympic sports, and will be played at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. The International Olympic Committee also voted to bring back baseball, softball, cricket and lacrosse. pic.twitter.com/NTC8J04nkh
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 17, 2023
As for Donald Trump, the old man is happy as long as everyone abides by his new policies and praises his leadership, because all he cares about is bringing back the “golden age of America.”
