Olympic Committee adopts new policy on 'trans' athletes



After much controversy in the last few years, the elite levels of sports may be making a return to sanity.

In a major win for women's sports, the International Olympic Committee issued a new policy on Thursday effectively banning trans-identifying athletes from competing in the category that aligns with their gender identity, though not from competing in the category that aligns with their biology.

'The IOC determined that a sex-based eligibility rule is necessary and adequate to the attainment of the IOC's goals for competition at IOC Events.'

The IOC echoed two conclusions that many conservative activists have been saying for years: "Male sex ... confers performance advantage in all sports and events that rely on strength, power, and/or endurance," and "to protect fairness in such sports and events, as well as safety particularly in contact sports (e.g. combat, collision, projectile sports), it is necessary and adequate to base eligibility for competition on biological sex."

This new policy comes after the IOC's "broad-based review" of the IOC's framework for women's sports. The review was launched in September 2024 and concluded this month.

RELATED: Transgender NCAA volleyball player finally speaks out to deny allegations

Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images

The policy, which replaces any and all previous policies that allowed trans-identifying athletes to compete based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex, is aligned with President Trump's February 5, 2025, executive order, "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports."

The IOC also acknowledged that this announcement would be upsetting to trans-identifying athletes and activists but that they intend to move forward with the policy: "The IOC recognises that XY athletes who identify as women and who want the opportunity to compete at IOC Events according to their legal sex or gender identity may disagree with this policy. However, after a thorough scientific review and consultations with constituents of the Olympic Movement, the IOC determined that a sex-based eligibility rule is necessary and adequate to the attainment of the IOC's goals for competition at IOC Events."

As expected, the outrage machine was not far behind the announcement.

CNN's headline on social media read: "Transgender women athletes are banned from competing in the Olympics following new IOC guidelines," despite there being no mention of banning anyone from competing.

Jennifer Sey, the CEO of XX-XY Athletes, called out CNN for the misleading headline and summarized the actual policy of the IOC: "No one is banned. Stop lying. Men can compete in men's."

Riley Gaines likewise issued a clarification for anyone misled by the headlines: "'Trans women' haven't been banned from women's sports. Men have. Hope this helps!"

The IOC made clear that this policy is "not retroactive" and will be applicable for the first time at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Blaze News reached out to XX-XY Athletes and CNN for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Charles Barkley defends Team USA White House visit — but says Trump needs to stop doing one thing



NBA legend Charles Barkley says "stupid" people "need something to trigger them."

The Hall of Fame player was referring to the Team USA men's Olympic hockey team visiting President Donald Trump at the State of the Union address and the White House last month. The event sparked controversy because of the way Trump delivered the invite.

'I'm not a Trump guy. I want to make that clear.'

The president called the men's locker room after the team defeated Canada 2-1 in the gold medal game on February 22, but his invite to the White House included a joke about the women's gold medal team.

"We're going to have to bring the women's team," the president told the team as they laughed. He added that he "probably would be impeached" if he didn't.

While the call resulted in apologies, condemnations, and struggle sessions with the media, Barkley defended the team's choice to visit the capital.

"Guys who didn't want to go shouldn't have to explain why they didn't go. I've said this before. I'm not a Trump guy. But if I got invited to the White House, I would go," Barkley told co-host Ernie Johnson on "The Steam Room."

"I'm not a Trump guy. I want to make that clear," Barkley reiterated. "But I respect the office. He's the president of the United States. But if guys don't want to go, I understand that too. It doesn't have to be a talking point. It doesn't have to be ... 'un-American.'"

Earlier in the discussion, the 63-year-old made a point of saying that while he did not agree with everything the government does, he understands that the general public can't stop themselves from being triggered.

RELATED: Boston Bruins players cave over Trump phone call: 'Certainly sorry' — 'we should have reacted differently'

"Yo, man, why do y'all have to mess up everything?" Barkley said about Trump's phone call. He then told his fellow Americans to stop "falling for stupidity" like that, while also placing blame on the government for purposely saying things that trigger people.

"I know y'all say stuff to trigger them. Y'all say stuff, and y'all know they going to be fools," Barkley told the administration.

When co-host Johnson tried to redirect Barkley's blame to Trump's call to the hockey team, the former athlete said that people should control themselves and not react to everything, but also that they often react anyway because they are "stupid."

"We don't have to fall for stupidity, Ernie," Barkley argued. "But we do, [and] that's my point. These people out here are stupid. They need something to trigger them."

RELATED: Team USA players interrogated by woke Canadian media over Trump call — 'Why would you laugh?'

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Barkley went on to say he did not like how divisive the phone call had become, and that such division has "screwed up" the United States.

"Everything is not Democrat, Republican, conservative, or liberal," he argued. "That's why we got this divided, screwed-up country."

"Stop it, man," Barkley soon pleaded, looking directly into the camera. The Alabaman then reinforced his reasoning one more time.

"The public — they're idiots. They're fools. They can't think for themselves."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Jason Whitlock blasts Megan Rapinoe’s Trump comments as ‘childish’



While a viral video of Kash Patel putting a call from President Trump on speaker in the locker room after the U.S. men’s hockey team’s historic win at the Olympics had Americans everywhere proud and celebrating, some Americans took it a little differently.

Former U.S. women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe criticized the idea of teams engaging with the president, suggesting that she never would have allowed him or Patel into a locker room during her leadership tenure.

“I can’t believe ... how people have such a, like, a lack of self-preservation. But if you don’t think you’re in threat, then you’re not going to preserve. So they obviously didn’t think that having Kash Patel or having Trump on the phone was a threat, so they’re cool with it,” Rapinoe said on “A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe.”


“But that’s why you don’t put yourself in this position, because to have the president of the United States on the phone … you get yourself wrapped in this moment. So, for me, the choice point is, like, I would have never, as a captain or a leader on my team … I think that would have been clear to our staffs and to the larger organization and, like, support staff, those people would never been allowed in our locker room,” she continued.

“When did we divide the country so bad that we don’t even have the American backing — the support of America — to go to the Oval Office or to the president of the United States? I don’t remember any sports team denying —because of policy — going to the White House for America,” Coach J.B. tells Whitlock.

“Now, it’s because they hate this man so badly that they’ll put that over America. It blows my mind. I’m so shocked. I don’t hate nothing, Jason,” he adds.

“She might be the captain,” Steve Kim chimes in. “Who the hell made her the boss?”

“I don’t think Kash Patel or Donald Trump would want to come into that locker room. I don’t think they would watch your games. I don’t think they care enough. Let’s have some perspective. I think they care about certain sports or certain teams. Yours ain’t one of them,” he adds.

Whitlock isn’t impressed either.

“It’s so childish,” he tells J.B and Kim.

“It’s the president of the United States,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Is this Olympian a designer baby? The gold medalist’s IVF and surrogacy story



Olympic figure skater and gold medalist Alysa Liu has made Americans across the country proud — but BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey believes there is one thing that needs to be discussed when it comes to Liu’s past.

Alysa’s father, Arthur Liu, fled China as a political refugee and landed in California where he attended law school.

“Now he is the only biological parent that Alysa knows because Alysa was born by surrogacy. He used IVF with anonymous egg donors. This has all been reported publicly,” Stuckey explains.

“And then there’s also something interesting about how Arthur chose the women who were going to be the egg sellers for all of his children. So he specifically chose white women as these egg sellers. I don’t say egg donors because these women are making money from selling their eggs for all of his children,” she continues.


Liu did this because he believed it would give them a “diverse gene pool and reflect his own blend of Chinese and American cultures.”

“That should just kind of make your skin crawl a little bit that you’re creating these designer babies as if out of a catalog. I mean that’s really objectifying these little people,” Stuckey says.

“Arthur has said he doesn’t know the identities of the egg donors or the egg sellers. There are no records available to reveal them, which just again points to something that we need to understand when it comes to egg selling is that we are purposely cutting children off from half of their biological reality,” she explains.

“You don’t get to know the fullness of your medical history. You don’t get to know the fullness of your ethnicity. You don’t get to know the fullness of your origin or your family’s origin. And I think it’s just an innate longing in all of us to know whom we are and from where we come,” she continues.

And Liu’s daughter’s path to the Olympics was no accident either.

In an interview with Liu on “60 Minutes,” he explains that he took Liu to Japan as a child to learn from the top coaches there — spending “half a million to a million dollars.”

“That could probably be said by a lot of these Olympic parents. They invest a lot of time and energy and money into their kids. And I’m not condemning him,” Stuckey says.

“It’s just another opportunity for us to be reminded that yes, while everyone, no matter the circumstances surrounding their conception or surrounding their gestation or birth, are made in God’s image, we are glad Alysa is here, we are glad her siblings are here. It looks like they had a decent upbringing, I hope so,” she continues, though she points out that despite this, no one has a right to a child.

“Children are people. They’re image bearers of God. They’re not something that we are entitled to be able to create by any means necessary,” she adds.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Team USA players interrogated by woke Canadian media over Trump call — 'Why would you laugh?'



A Canadian sports reporter blamed the internet for backlash she received over her questions to American hockey players.

Members of Team USA men's Olympic hockey team have been lectured by media members for days now after laughing at a joke made by President Trump over the phone.

'If we were to do it again, I think we wouldn't do that, and we made a mistake.'

Trump called the team in the locker room after their gold medal win on Sunday and made a joke that has offended woke reporters, seemingly worldwide.

"We're going to have to bring the women's team," the president joked about the Team USA women, who also won gold. He added that he "probably would be impeached" if he didn't.

For daring to laugh, U.S. players have been subjected to struggle sessions in their individual markets from hockey reporters. Seemingly the worst of such examples has come out of Canada's capital, where Americans Jake Sanderson and Brady Tkachuk play for the Ottawa Senators.

Both players were given a browbeating from TSN reporter Claire Hanna, a Canadian who lists her pronouns as "she/her" on her X page.

Sanderson told reporters that while he thought things had been "blown out of proportion a little bit," he still thought it was a "mistake" to laugh at the president's joke.

"We have nothing but the utmost respect for the women. We had a lounge in the village that we were hanging out with them all the time, watching other events," Sanderson said.

That answer was not good enough, though, and Hanna sought further clarification.

"Do you understand in the moment how much it could hurt a team to hear them kind of just be put down that way?" the female reporter asked.

"If we were to do it again, I think we wouldn't do that, and we made a mistake. But again, I think it kind of got blown out of proportion a little bit," Sanderson answered.

RELATED: Boston Bruins players cave over Trump phone call: 'Certainly sorry' — 'we should have reacted differently'

The scrum of reporters was incessant with questions about the Trump call and the players' subsequent visit to the White House and State of the Union address.

Tkachuk was not spared from these queries, explaining that only 15 minutes after leaving the ice with the gold medal, "You have the president of the United States calling you. You just can't really believe [it]."

"You're still riding the high of being a world champ, and for the president to take time and call ...," Tkachuk trailed off before sharing a memory from the Olympics.

Still, no amount of positive reinforcement about the women's team could save Tkachuk, as Hanna soon asked, "Do you understand how they could feel pretty put down by that moment?

"I get it," Tkachuk replied. "I have no really other comments other than, you know, for the things that we can control, and that was, you know, we supported them, they supported us. Can't control what other people say. That's just kind of life itself."

With Tkachuk praising the women's team and saying they were clearly the best squad in the tournament, most would think that Tkachuk had touched on the narrative enough, but Hanna again pressed forward.

RELATED: Team USA captain goes full feminist over Trump's 'distasteful' invitation: 'It's a great teaching point'

'"So then why would you laugh when they got invited?" the reporter asked.

"I don't really have an answer, honestly," an exhausted Tkachuk stated. "It was just a whirlwind of a moment that you can't really control what somebody says, and I guess caught off guard a little bit. "

The American reiterated, "When you're talking to the president 10 minutes after you just achieve your dream, it's just the fact that you're talking to him. It's just, you can't really believe where your life's at, that you're talking to the president of the United States after you just won a gold medal."

Hanna, seemingly shrugging off a bevy of backlash, wrote on X, "I see the internet is angry today."

This only garnered more disgruntled fan remarks.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Boston Bruins players cave over Trump phone call: 'Certainly sorry' — 'we should have reacted differently'



The two Boston Bruins players who represented the United States at the 2026 Olympics have succumbed to media pressure.

Seemingly every player from Team USA's gold medal-winning men's hockey team is facing a struggle session from local reporters who are asking them why they laughed at a joke made by President Trump.

'Certainly not reflective of how we feel and look at them and their accomplishments.'

When the president called the men's locker room after they defeated Canada 2-1 on Sunday, he invited the team to the State of the Union as well as to the White House before making a wisecrack about also inviting the women's gold medal team.

"We're going to have to bring the women's team," the president joked, adding that he "probably would be impeached" if he didn't.

Since then, the league-wide hunt for unauthorized laughter has commenced, and some players are starting to show cracks in their armor.

Bruins players were seemingly the first to show significant regret for laughing with the president, starting with goalie Jeremy Swayman. The Team USA backup goalie called it an "incredible honor" to attend the State of the Union but then told reporters that the team should have had a different reaction to the phone call.

"We should have reacted differently," Swayman said from the locker room on Wednesday. "We know that we are so excited for the women's team. We have so much respect for the women's team, and to share that gold medal with them is something that we're forever grateful for."

The Alaskan added, "Now that we're home, we get to share that together forever and see the incredible support that we have from the USA and sharing this incredible gold medal."

RELATED: Team USA captain goes full feminist over Trump's 'distasteful' invitation: 'It's a great teaching point'

On Thursday, it was more of the same from Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, a 28-year-old New Yorker who also suited up for the United States.

McAvoy said he was "certainly sorry for how we responded to it in that moment," before qualifying that there were "things that just happened really quick there."

The longtime Bruin told reporters that the relationship between the men's and women's teams is incredibly strong, and their reaction to the president's joke was "certainly not reflective of how we feel and look at them and their accomplishments."

On the subject of his visit to the White House, McAvoy revealed he had always told himself that such an opportunity was one he would never miss.

"Just the history of that building, the history of this country. You know, if I get a chance to go to ... I was certainly going to go."

RELATED: NJ governor crushed with boos at Devils game before honoring Team USA hero Jack Hughes

Trump's remarks have caused a meltdown among sports reporters, who have incessantly sought comment from the male and female athletes in question.

In response, Team USA women's captain Hilary Knight lectured her countrymen during interviews this week, describing the backlash as being a "teaching point."

Knight also called the joke "distasteful and unfortunate," before saying the male players had a "lapse" in judgment by laughing at Trump's remarks.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Don’t Let Miserable Media Hacks Suck The Joy Out Of U.S. Hockey’s Gold Medal Wins

We'll be damned if we're going to allow a bunch of prima donna left-wing losers ruin U.S. hockey's Olympic victories.
Is Alysa Liu a Designer Baby? | Ep 1309
play icon

Is Alysa Liu a Designer Baby? | Ep 1309

Team USA captain goes full feminist over Trump's 'distasteful' invitation: 'It's a great teaching point'



Team USA's women's hockey captain is not happy with President Donald Trump or the men's hockey team.

Hilary Knight, who in 2026 became Team USA's all-time leading scorer in women's Olympic hockey, took multiple shots at the president this week after he joked with the men's team that he would have to invite the women alongside the men to the State of the Union address.

'I think that's being overshadowed by sort of a quick lapse.'

"We're going to have to bring the women's team," the president said jokingly on Sunday, adding he "probably would be impeached" if he didn't.

Although the women declined the invitation, citing "academic and professional commitments," Knight seemingly took offense to the remarks, revealing in subsequent interviews that she was sour over the president's joke.

"I thought the joke was distasteful and unfortunate," she told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday. "The way women are represented, it's a great teaching point to really shine light on how women should be championed for their amazing feats."

"It's not my responsibility" to explain "someone else's behavior" she added.

RELATED: Team USA hero Jack Hughes defends women's team for skipping White House visit: 'Everything is so political'

Also on Wednesday, Knight again described the president's remarks as "a distasteful joke" during an interview on "SportsCenter."

"I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke, and unfortunately that is overshadowing a lot of the success and the success of just women at the Olympics, caring for Team USA, and having amazing gold-medal feats," the women's captain told host Jay Harris.

Knight said the team was just trying to focus on celebrating the incredible efforts made by the men and women at the Olympics and "not detract from that with a distasteful joke."

"It was unfortunate," Knight added. She then claimed her male counterparts had a "lapse" in judgment by laughing at Trump's remarks.

"There's a genuine level of support there and respect [from the men], and I think that's being overshadowed by sort of a quick lapse, and, you know, I think the guys were in a tough spot."

RELATED: Trump personally congratulates Olympic men's hockey team, tells them he would be 'impeached' if he doesn't do THIS

While the American women were not at the State of the Union on Tuesday, Trump announced during his speech that the team would in fact be visiting the White House "soon."

At the same time, the women have accepted an offer to celebrate with rapper Flavor Flav this summer, with forward Alex Carpenter saying she planned on finishing her professional season before heading to Las Vegas to "take advantage of that."

"Go have some fun and celebrate like we deserve to," she said, per the New York Post.

Flavor Flav was designated the official hype man for both the U.S. bobsled and skeleton teams at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

One good man: What Team USA’s hockey gold can teach conservatives about winning



As conservatives, we should celebrate America’s gold-medal hockey win over Canada. We should also reflect on it.

Why? Because we are a morbid bunch of doomsayers. Inside every silver lining, we see a cloud, and we never miss an opportunity to forecast how everything is about to go horribly wrong.

The God of hockey is also the God of nations. He can do a lot with one good man.

We are morbid because we are so analytical. We break things and situations down into their component parts. We measure. We estimate. We look at the numbers, and from the numbers, we draw our conclusions.

Numbers game?

The problem is that, when it comes to the culture, the numbers are rarely on our side. Let’s be honest, they haven’t been on our side for a while, but that’s why we should reflect on the United States’ victory over Canada.

Statistically, Canada outplayed the United States. Anyone who watched the last two periods could tell you: Man for man, America was getting outplayed.

It really just came down to the fact that we had one player they couldn’t beat: our goalie, Connor Hellebuyck. Canada outshot the United States in the last two periods 33 to 18. The numbers weren’t on our side, but the one man who mattered was.

RELATED: Raucous applause erupts for Olympic men's hockey team at State of the Union: 'What special champions you are!'

Photo (left): ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images; Photo (right): Leah Millis-Pool/Getty Images

'God has a name'

More than 50 years ago, the future Pope Benedict XVI noted modern life's tendency to reduce men to faceless statistics: "The machines that he himself has constructed now impose their own law on him: He must be made readable for the computer, and this can be achieved only when he is translated into numbers."

"But," he continued, "God has a name, and God calls us by our name. ... For Him, we are not some function in a 'world machinery.'"

In life, as in sports, victory does not always yield to the data. It just takes one good man to go into the breach; one man, completely outnumbered, who stands up when all others have fallen and says, “You cannot pass.”

Cultures aren’t defined by numbers. They are defined by people. So be courageous, be hopeful, and take a stand in the breach. The God of hockey is also the God of nations. He can do a lot with one good man.