Former NCAA athlete turned activist Kim Jones anticipates more sports organizations will follow the Olympics in banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.
The International Olympic Committee is considering banning transgender athletes ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Jones, cofounder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sport, said the move would lead to “bigger buy-in from the public.
“There’s nothing the public hates more than being deceived or defrauded,” Jones told the Washington Examiner. “You have to be able to take stances in sport that clarify that you have ethical standards, that sports are fair, that you’re not trying to pull one over on people who are investing their time, energy, and resources into sports. There’s going to be an overwhelming support for this.”
Enforcing a transgender ban could become the next challenge for women’s sports. Olympic boxer Imane Khelif has already refused the genetic testing required to compete in World Boxing.
“Screening is the future of women’s sports because just like any category, an enforcement mechanism has to exist,” Jones said. “We don’t just trust people on their honor in sports. That’s what rules are for.”
Current screenings, which use a saliva sample, can take up to 48 hours for results. Jones predicts that the tests will become “super fast and super cheap,” and expects tests to be as accessible as an over-the-counter pregnancy test in the future.
Jones has four children who competed in collegiate swimming; her youngest daughter competed against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in 2021 and 2022. As athletic directors, the NCAA, and USA Swimming continued to allow Thomas to compete against female athletes, Jones said she knew “the burden was going to fall upon young women and eventually parents,” to ensure girls’ sports were protected.
Following that experience, Jones met Marshi Smith through fellow women’s sports activist Riley Gaines, another swimmer who competed against Thomas, who connected the two via a phone call. Together, they formed the Independent Council on Women’s Sport and helped expose further anecdotes of transgender athletes infiltrating women’s sports.
While Jones referred to Thomas as a “catalyst” in the Title IX fight for women’s sports, Jones suggested a change in the Olympic Games would trickle down to other athletes as well.
“There’s no level of accomplishment or athleticism that a young girl needs to reach to be treated fairly and given access to fair and safe sport,” Jones said.
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The Olympic and Paralympic Committee signaled it would update its policies to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders on transgender athletes. Trump named himself head of the task force for the Summer Olympics.
Trump issued a “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order in February that barred transgender athletes and pledged to rescind funds to institutions “that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.”
