Opening ceremonies of the World Surfing Games in El Salvador, an Olympic qualifier that could be impacted by any IOC ruling. Photo: Pablo Jimenez//ISA
A ban on transgender women competing in Olympic women’s divisions appears likely to take effect in 2026, sources told the BBC. Any change would almost certainly cascade to surfing’s governing bodies, which must align with Olympic rules for their events to serve as qualification pathways.
A spokesperson for the International Surfing Association (ISA) told The Inertia on Wednesday that the organization is reviewing its policy while awaiting the outcome of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) ongoing transgender policy review. The World Surf League (WSL) did not respond to requests for comment on potential changes to its policy.
Kirsty Coventry, elected IOC president earlier this year, has signaled that change is coming to transgender policies during her tenure, indicating that the IOC is going to take the lead on setting a blanket policy. Under the previous president, Thomas Bach, the IOC deferred this policy to each international federation, resulting in a patchwork of different rules.
Coventry campaigned on protecting women’s sports and established a working group to study the issue. Last week, the IOC’s medical and scientific director, Dr. Jane Thornton, shared an update on their research, implying that male-born athletes have advantages over female athletes even after lowering testosterone levels.
BBC’s sources say any ban would likely be announced after the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
The ISA released its transgender policy in 2022, requiring that a transgender woman have “serum testosterone concentration (of) less than five nmol/L (nanomoles per liter) continuously for a period of the previous 12 months” in order to compete in women’s divisions. As of 2025, no surfer has met this criteria
It was one of the more inclusive policies among Olympic sports, parallel to those of rowing and tennis. Sports like cycling and triathlon implemented stricter thresholds, while other sports like swimming and rugby essentially banned transgender women from women’s events.
Later in early 2023, the World Surf League (WSL) adopted the ISA’s policy.
In February of 2025, Trump issued an executive order titled, “Keeping men out of women’s sports,” prompting the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to amend its policy accordingly. However, surfing’s institutions did not change theirs.
An ISA spokesperson previously told The Inertia that its medical commission would make a recommendation to the executive committee in September, but no changes have been published. If the IOC adopts a new standard, those rules would apply to the WSL Championship Tour and any ISA events with Olympic qualification implications.
