On January 24, 2016 the International Olympic Committee announced new guidelines for transgender athletes’ eligibility to compete in the Olympics.  While hailed by one trans athlete as bringing the IOC "into the modern world," the applause for the IOC may be premature.

Although the IOC abandoned its much-criticised chromosome-based ‘sex test’ before the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the general practice of ‘gender policing’ of women in elite sport has continued ever since, although the last six months have seen some important developments addressing the complex questions of athletes’ sexualities and gender.