American middle-distance runner Nikki Hiltz, who identifies as non-binary and competes in women's events, reacted on Instagram Stories to the International Olympic Committee's policy to bar males from women's competitions.[1]

Hiltz wrote: "All Olympic athletes competing in women’s sports are now required to undergo genetic sex testing. Attacks on trans people have consistently led to more policing and regulation of ALL women’s bodies. Everyone is hurt by transphobia. Y’all already know where I stand on this but this policy is so f---ing stupid and is not solving a problem that exists. I don’t know who needs to hear this but ZERO trans women competed in the Paris Olympics. Only ONE trans woman weightlifter competed in Tokyo 2021 and she did not win a medal. Can we please stop obsessing over trans people? And idk maybe focus our time, energy, and resources into real problems women’s sports face?"

Hiltz competed in the women's 1,500 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics, advancing from the repechage round to the semi-finals.[1][2]

Hiltz won the silver medal in the 1,500 metres at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, finishing second in 4:00.42.[1]

Hiltz also claimed gold in the 1,500 metres at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.[1]

As Hiltz noted, no transgender women (those who transitioned after male puberty) competed in women's events at the Paris 2024 Olympics.[3]

Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand was the only transgender woman to compete in a women's event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in 2021), entering the women's +87kg weightlifting competition but failing to record a valid lift.[4]

The IOC's current Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination, introduced in 2021, requires international federations to individually justify any participation criteria for the female category based on evidence, without presumption of advantage.[5]

Sources

1. World Athletics, "Nikki Hiltz Profile", accessed October 2024, https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/nikki-hiltz-14651618
2. Olympics.com, "Nikki Hiltz", 2024, https://olympics.com/en/athletes/nikki-hiltz
3. Reuters, "Two openly trans, non-binary athletes to compete in Paris Olympics", 25 July 2024, https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/two-openly-trans-non-binary-athletes-compete-paris-olympics-2024-07-25/
4. BBC Sport, "Laurel Hubbard: The transgender weightlifter aiming to make history at Tokyo Olympics", 1 August 2021, https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/58047557
5. International Olympic Committee, "IOC Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination", 16 November 2021, https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-releases-new-framework-on-fairness-inclusion-and-non-discrimination-female-category