Trans male skier to compete in 2026 Winter Olympics women’s division
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Swedish skier Elis Lundholm will make history as the first transgender athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics.
The Swedish ski team last month announced the death of Lundholm, a biological female who identifies as male. women compete in the freestyle ski category in accordance with current International Olympic Committee (IOC) guidelines.
Lundholm is also the only transgender athlete competing at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics..
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The International Olympic Committee currently allows transgender athletes to compete after approval by the relevant sports federations. (Image alliance via Peter Kneffel/Getty Images)
The Swedish skier’s participation follows the IOC’s 2021 “Framework for Fairness, Participation and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Differences”. The framework includes a 10-principle approach to recommendations that should be taken into account in terms of each sport’s eligibility requirements.
“This Framework recognizes both the need to ensure that all people, regardless of gender identity or gender differences, can play sport in a safe, harassment-free environment that recognizes and respects their needs and identities, and the interest of all, especially elite-level athletes, in participating in fair competitions in which no participant has an unfair and disproportionate advantage over others,” the document states.
Under the current framework, transgender athletes will be able to compete in the Olympics after being approved by the relevant sports federations.
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The IOC allowed Elis Lundholm to compete in the women’s category at the 2026 Winter Olympics. (Yara Nardi/Reuters)
In November, reports circulated that the IOC was considering broader transgender eligibility standards that could prevent biological male athletes from competing in women’s sports. The allegations were made by the IOC’s medical and scientific director, Dr. It followed a presentation by Jane Thornton showing physical advantages in men even after extensive testosterone treatments.
However, as of Thursday, a new policy has not yet been officially announced.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the IOC for comment.
Gender rules for the Olympics face scrutiny during the 2024 Paris Olympics; Here Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, who had previously failed gender tests, won gold medals in their respective weight classes in the women’s category despite great turmoil. Khelif insisted that these were women. Lin has not commented on the controversy since the end of the Olympics.
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The IOC will reportedly update its guidelines to prevent transgender female athletes from competing in the women’s division. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
While the IOC has yet to announce an official policy, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) updated its policies in July to coincide with President Donald Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.
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The USA will host the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
