Gender issues
FILE - United States' Annika Malacinski competes during the Nordic combined World Cup mixed team normal hill HS 106, in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Jan. 7, 2022. Malacinski is one of dozens of women around the world who are in it for the glory, sacrificing a lot of time and money to go for Olympic gold. (AP Photo/Elvis Piazza, File)
IOC keeps women's Nordic Combined out of 2026 Olympics

By Graham Dunbar Jun. 24, 2022 01:09 PM EDT

On Title IX's 50th, USOPC seeks accord on transgender policy

By Eddie Pells Jun. 23, 2022 05:56 PM EDT
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The biggest gathering of the year for U.S. Olympic policymakers fell on Thursday, the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Not surprisingly,...

FILE - World Athletics President Sebastian Coe leaves the Court of Arbitration for Sport after a hearing of South Africa's two-time Olympic 800-meter champion runner Caster Semenya, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Feb. 18, 2019. Bans on transgender women in international swimming and rugby this week opened the door for track and field to consider following suit in what could turn into a wave of policy changes in Olympic sports. The announcement Sunday, June 19, 2022, by swimming's governing body, FINA, was followed quickly by a show of support from World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who was in Hungary for the swimming world championships. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP, File)
Swimming's new transgender policy could impact other sports

By Eddie Pells Jun. 22, 2022 04:57 PM EDT

FILE - University of Pennsylvania athlete Lia Thomas prepares for the 500 meter freestyle at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. World swimming’s governing body has adopted new rules for transgender athletes, only permitting swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. FINA members voted 71.5% in favor of the new “gender inclusion policy” at the organization’s extraordinary general congress on Sunday, June 19, 2022. Thomas made history in the United States as the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Column: FINA ban casts storm clouds on transgender athletes

By Paul Newberry Jun. 20, 2022 06:51 PM EDT

FILE - Billy Demong, a member of USA Nordic's board of directors, speaks during the cross country stage of the nordic combined 10 kilometers for placement on the U.S. Olympic team, at the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex on Dec. 24, 2021, in Lake Placid, N.Y. Nordic combined, which uniquely tests skiers on jaw-dropping jumps and heart-pounding trails, has been a part of the Winter Olympics since 1924. It is also the only Olympic sport without women.(AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
Winter Olympics may not include Nordic combined for 1st time

By Larry Lage Jun. 15, 2022 02:37 PM EDT

FILE - Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas speaks to her coach after winning the 500 meter freestyle during a meet with Harvard on Jan. 22, 2022, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. In an interview that aired Tuesday, May 31, 2022, on ABC's “Good Morning America,” Thomas disputed those who say she has an unfair biological edge that ruins the integrity of female athletics. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)
Lia Thomas plans to keep swimming - with an eye on Olympics

May. 31, 2022 06:20 PM EDT

FILE - South African long distance athlete Caster Semenya (176) runs on her way to winning the 5,000 meters at the South African national championships in Pretoria, South Africa, April 15, 2021. A British newspaper has reported that double Olympic champion Semenya said she offered to show her body to track officials when she was just 18 years old to prove she was a female. (AP Photo/Christiaan Kotze/File)
Semenya says she offered to show track officials her body

By Gerald Imray May. 23, 2022 07:45 PM EDT

FILE - Atlanta Beat goalkeeper Briana Scurry makes a save late in the second half against the Carolina Courage, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2002, in Cary, N.C. The U.S. women's national team has not only been wildly successful on the field, the players have also been unabashedly outspoken, using their platform to advocate for equal rights for themselves and others. (AP Photo/Stan Gilliland, File)
US women's soccer equal pay victory decades in the making

By Anne M. Peterson May. 21, 2022 02:43 AM EDT

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley greets fans as the team returns to the team's hotel following Women's Final Four NCAA basketball tournament, Sunday, April 3, 2022, in Minneapolis. South Carolina defeated UConn earlier in the night to win the national championship. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
South Carolina's Dawn Staley becomes force on, off the court

By Pete Iacobelli Apr. 07, 2022 12:48 PM EDT

University of Pennsylvania transgender athlete Lia Thomas competes in the 500-yard freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Column: Lia Thomas sparks all sorts of conflicting thoughts

By Paul Newberry Mar. 18, 2022 04:34 PM EDT

Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy Leduc, of the United States, compete in the pairs short program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
LeDuc skates as 1st openly nonbinary US Winter Olympian

By Sally Ho Feb. 18, 2022 10:01 AM EST

Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy Leduc, of the United States, compete in the pairs short program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Olympics Live: China pair breaks figure skating world record

Feb. 17, 2022 08:39 PM EST

Ashley Cain-Gribble, right, and Timothy LeDuc acknowledge the applause during the pairs short program competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)
LeDuc to become 1st openly nonbinary US Winter Games athlete

By Dave Skretta Feb. 02, 2022 03:44 AM EST

Annika Malacinski, left, and Alexa Brabec take part in a roller ski training session for the 2022 U.S. Olympic team for Nordic combined and ski jumping teams at Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, N.Y., Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. Even before the U.S. teams were set for Beijing Games, 20-year-old Annika Malacinski knew she had no shot at competing in China because she is a woman. Nordic combined, which combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing, is the only Olympic sport without gender equity. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
It's men only in Nordic combined at the Olympics for now

By Larry Lage Jan. 23, 2022 10:51 AM EST

Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas is shown during the playing of the national anthem before a swim meet, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, in Philadelphia. The NCAA has adopted a sport-by-sport approach for transgender athletes, bringing the organization in line with the U.S. and International Olympic Committees. NCAA rules on transgender athletes returned to the forefront when Penn swimmer Lia Thomas started smashing records this year.(AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Penn pledges to work with NCAA, support transgender swimmer

Jan. 20, 2022 08:54 PM EST

Washington Spirit forward Ashley Hatch, left, heads the ball in front of OL Reign midfielder Quinn in the second half in the semifinals of the NWSL soccer playoffs Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, in Tacoma, Wash. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
IOC transgender guidelines hailed but questions remain

By Steve Mcmorran Nov. 19, 2021 12:32 AM EST

IOC gives sports new advice on transgender athlete rules

Nov. 16, 2021 03:15 PM EST
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Aiming to help sports write eligibility rules for transgender athletes, the IOC published advice Tuesday shifting the focus from...

Stern, Catchings, Cash inducted into Women’s Basketball Hall

By Al Lesar Aug. 21, 2021 08:26 PM EDT
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — What David Stern did for the sport of basketball transcended any gender bias and opened a whole new world for women in the game. ...

Skating body sets out criteria for transgender competitors

Aug. 16, 2021 10:47 AM EDT
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The International Skating Union has detailed eligibility criteria for transgender athletes looking to take part in its events,...

FILE - In this Aug. 6, 2021, file photo, Paul Chelimo, of United States, lies on the track after the final of the men's 5,000-meters at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
The Perseverance Games: Surreal Olympics approach their end

By Jenna Fryer Aug. 07, 2021 09:13 AM EDT