Transgender athletes have been banned from women's sports in the U.S. How will this impact Kazakhstan's Olympic performance?

The U.S. presidential decree prohibiting transgender individuals from participating in sports competitions within the country has sparked a global debate. While some argue it constitutes discrimination against transgender people, others eagerly anticipate a ban on their participation in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, as reported by Caravan.kz.

Trump's statement notably references the 2028 Olympic Games. It is highlighted that the president will take all possible measures to prevent transgender athletes from competing in women's events at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

“We will not allow this. And no one will stop us,” said the head of state.

Negotiations are likely to be conducted with the new president of the International Olympic Committee, who will be elected on March 20 and take office in June 2025. The success of these negotiations will be revealed later, with initial forecasts only possible after the elections.

The current leadership of the IOC, headed by Thomas Bach, has delegated the decision on whether transgender athletes can participate in competitions to international sports federations, urging them to rely on scientific research data.

However, the absence of a recognized federation in amateur boxing led to gold medals in the boxing tournament at the 2024 Olympics being won by Iman Helif from Algeria and Lin Yuitin from Chinese Taipei, who are suspected of being transgender. This is believed to give them an advantage due to elevated testosterone levels and male hormones, allowing them to easily defeat female competitors.

Incidentally, the "male strength" of Lin Yuitin was experienced by Kazakhstani boxer Karina Ibragimova at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. After the final match with Lin, Karina stated that her opponent's fighting style did not resemble that of a woman.

“I have fought her three times. I lost the first time and won twice. The last time I faced her was in the semifinals of the World Championship, and I won, but today I fell a bit short. I tried my best, did everything I could. Do I feel the punches at all? Yes, the guys' punches, speed, and technique are different from those of the girls,” said Karina.

Karina did not compete against Iman Helif at the events, but for instance, Italian athlete Angela Carini surrendered after 46 seconds of fighting Helif at the 2024 Olympics. When the winner was announced, the Italian refused to shake her opponent's hand, then knelt in the middle of the ring and cried. Commenting on the situation, Bach stated that Iman Helif is a woman (although a gender test conducted in India in 2023 showed the presence of male XY chromosomes in the athlete), as she has been competing at an international level for six years, but he promised to clarify and improve the scientific basis.

Donald Trump's ban on transgender participation in sports competitions and the potential prohibition on their involvement in the 2028 Olympics is seen as a positive sign for global sports, according to five-time MMA world champion and sports expert Aidar Makhemtov. He stated that if transgender athletes are banned from competing in women's events at the Olympics, it would be the right decision.

“I fully support this and have always struggled to understand these issues when transgender individuals, essentially men from a genetic standpoint, go out and not only often achieve better results than women but also injure them in combat sports or other contact sports. Of course, the participation of transgender athletes in women's competitions is a very strange phenomenon, and I welcome Trump's policy in this regard. He also stated that there are only two genders — male and female, which I also support,” said Aidar Makhemtov.

Incidentally, in Kazakh sports, there have been no officially recorded instances of transgender participation in women's competitions. Unofficially, there haven't been any either.

“In our sport, there are rumors that transgender individuals attempted to compete, but it was not at a high level, not in national teams, so this topic is not relevant for us,” explained Makhemtov.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan assured that there have been no cases of registration or inclusion of transgender athletes in youth, junior, or national teams for Olympic and Paralympic sports in Kazakhstan.

According to the National Anti-Doping Center of Kazakhstan, every athlete undergoing doping control has their biological passport for anti-doping purposes. Alongside identifying the presence or absence of banned substances, there is also monitoring of testosterone levels and its epimers (pro-hormones of testosterone). This has been mandatory since 2014. If testosterone or its epimer levels are elevated, additional qualitative and quantitative analyses are conducted for confirmation in anti-doping laboratories upon request from the center. Additionally, doping control samples from every Kazakh athlete are evaluated by an expert group assessing biological passports from the Lausanne Anti-Doping Laboratory, one of the expert laboratories of the IOC, with which the center signed a contract in 2016.

“Currently, there are no female athletes whose gender raises doubts among coaches and judges and who have high testosterone levels in Kazakhstan. It should be noted that in cases of uncertainty regarding an athlete's gender, genetic analyses for DNA verification and thorough examinations by medical experts for internal sexual characteristics and organs are conducted,” the ministry assured.