Female Athlete Protection and LA28 Updates

Female Athlete Protection and LA28 Updates

From Keep the Flame Alive by Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown

April 16, 2026 · 48 min · Episode 432

About this episode

The episode discusses the new IOC policy on female athlete protection and updates on the LA28 Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee has released a new policy on the protection of the female (women's) category in Olympic sport, which calls for gene screening for all female athletes. We talk about what this entails, what it could mean for sports, and whether or not we, as two women, feel protected. If you want to read the policy for yourself, you can find it here: https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/International-Olympic-Committee/EB/policy/policy-on-the-protection-of-the-female-category-english.pdf The UN's response is here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/04/un-expert-welcomes-international-olympic-committee-policy-protecting-female Here's the Time article we referenced: https://time.com/article/2026/04/03/how-the-olympic-ban-on-transgender-women-could-affect-all-women-athletes/ And geneticist Andrew Sinclair's thoughts on SRY gene screening: https://www.mcri.edu.au/news/insights-and-opinions/world-athletics-sry-gene-conversation Also, LA 2028 has released its "look of the Games," which is called " LA in Full Bloom ." Inspired by the California Superbloom phenomenon, the look features colorful graphics. Typography is inspired by signage found…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jill Jaracz, Alison Brown

Topics covered

  • female athlete protection
  • Olympic policy
  • gene screening
  • LA28 updates
  • sports news
  • women in sports

Keywords

  • female athletes
  • Olympic Committee
  • gene screening
  • LA28
  • sports policy
  • women's sports

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: International Olympic Committee, UN, LA28, Time

Books & works: LA in Full Bloom

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