JK Rowling has claimed she is still waiting for Olympic gender row boxer Imane Khelif to sue her for cyberbullying, as the author celebrating the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banning transgender athletes from women’s events.
The IOC announced new rules aimed at protecting the women’s category on Thursday, which will be in force for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The organisation confirmed that eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females.
Their eligibility would be determined on the basis of a one‑time SRY gene screening.
The screening for an SRY gene, which can be via a cheek swab or blood test, has already been required by some governing bodies including World Athletics and World Boxing.
The IOC’s policy bars transgender athletes from women’s events, and forces those with a Disorder of Sex Development (DSD) to prove that they ‘do not benefit from the anabolic and/or performance-enhancing effects of testosterone’.
JK Rowling stated she is still waiting for gender row boxer Imane Khelif, pictured, to sue her
The Harry Potter author has celebrated new rules aimed at protecting women’s sport
Khelif won gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics amid controversy, after the Algerian had allegedly failed a gender eligbility test
Pressure had grown on the IOC following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, when boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting won gold medals in women’s boxing events – despite claims that they had failed gender eligibility tests with the International Boxing Association (IBA).
Rowling, who has been vocal on the issue, used an image of Khelif to celebrate the IOC’s new rules on Thursday.
‘Today’s ruling by the IOC means a welcome return to fair sport for women and girls, but I’ll never forget the scandal of Paris 2024, when people who consider themselves supremely virtuous and progressive publicly cheered on men punching women,’ Rowling wrote on social media.
Harry Potter author Rowling then responded to a post asking ‘Wasn’t he supposed to sue you?’ by stating ‘I’m still waiting’.
Khelif had named Elon Musk and Rowling in a lawsuit filed to French authorities over alleged ‘acts of aggravated cyber harassment’ back in 2024.
When questioned why the issue mattered to her, Rowling responded: ‘There’s no complexity. Two men were permitted to box against women and robbed them of medals.’
Despite Rowling’s comments, last week it was announced that Lin had been cleared to return to competing in women’s events after undergoing a mandated SRY test.
Last month, Khelif expressed an openness to completing a test in order to compete at Los Angeles 2028.
Rowling also hit out at Sky News after former transgender footballer Blair Hamilton appeared as a guest to discuss the IOC’s new rules
Rowling has also hit out at Sky News after Blair Hamilton – a former transgender footballer – appeared as a guest to discuss the rules.
Hamilton, a researcher in sports medicine at Manchester Metropolitan University, had made headlines in 2024 after being signed for Sutton United’s women’s team by Lucy Clark – the first transgender manager in the top five tiers of the English female game.
In the Sky News interview, Hamilton stated that the rules were ‘outdated’ and would cause ‘real harm’ ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
‘What they are trying to do is reduce an entire person’s eligibility to a simple SRY gene, which simply isn’t how sex works or its links to sports performance.
‘There is no evidence chromosomes are a reliable indicator of athletic ability. The idea this protects fairness in women’s sport isn’t really backed by science and it needs to be questioned.’
Hamilton claimed the framing of ban was wrong, noting that several sports have already banned transgender women from competing, and suggested it was more aimed at ‘female athletes with sex variations’.
Hamilton had retired from football last year, one day after the English Football Association confirmed transgender women would no longer be able to play in women’s football in England.
The FA’s decision followed the Supreme Court ruling that the words ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
Rowling was critical of the decision to use Hamilton to discuss the IOC’s rules, writing: Given that Sky News thinks this individual’s opinions were important enough to be aired on television, it’s odd that they’ve turned off replies.’
Olympics chief Kirsty Coventry said the new rules would help ensure the safety of female stars
Laurel Hubbard is the only openly transgender athlete to have compete at the Olympics back at Tokyo 2020
Sky’s coverage, however, did include analysis of the IOC’s decision and why the organisation had taken the step to introduce rules in the build-up to Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The issue had become a major topic during the IOC presidential elections, with eventual winner Kirsty Coventry among those to have pledged to introduce rules to protect the women’s category – leading to her setting up a review last year.
A 10-page IOC document outlining the policy and research behind it, outlined its research that being born male gives physical advantages that are retained.
‘Males experience three significant testosterone peaks: in utero, in mini-puberty of infancy and beginning in adolescent puberty through adulthood,’ the document said.
It added this gives males ‘individual sex-based performance advantages in sports and events that rely on strength, power and/or endurance.’
Laurel Hubbard is the sole openly transgender athlete to have competed at the Olympics – having controversially competed in women’s weightlifting at Tokyo 2020. Hubbard ultimately failed to make a lift in the competition.
Controversy has also reigned over athletes with DSD.
Caster Semenya was a high-profile example of an athlete with DSD. Semenya was assigned female at birth and identifies as a woman, but had a higher-than-normal level of testosterone for a woman. She has the typical male XY chromosome pattern.
Semenya won gold in the women’s 800m event at the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
