Athletes praised the International Olympic Committee’s decision to bar transgender women from competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, hailing it as a “huge” win for women’s sports.

“This IOC does the right thing and implements sex testing. At the LA Olympics, women’s sports will be women only,” Jennifer Sey, a former member of the US women’s national artistic gymnastics team, wrote on X shortly after the announcement.

“This is huge. Well done IOC.”

Sey, who is also the founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics — an apparel brand that says it aims to defend female-only competition — has been a vocal advocate on the issue.

Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, a vocal critic of transgender women competing in women’s sports, also hailed the decision.

‘”Trans women” haven’t been banned from women’s sports. Men have. Hope this helps!” she wrote on X.

Other former Olympians echoed similar support.

Sharron Davies — who represented Great Britain in the Olympics and European championships, and now serves in the UK’s House of Lords — also lauded the decision.

“I’m extremely please[d] the IOC has seen fit to use results, science & common sense to protect the female category & return fair & safe sport to women & girls,” she wrote on X, while reposting the IOC’s announcement.

“It saddens me it was given away so easily ten years ago. But it’s imperative we recognise all women & girls deserve their sport, free from males, not just the very best only.”

The IOC said the change is intended to “protect fairness, safety and integrity in the female category,” noting the rule is not retroactive and will not apply to grassroots or recreational sports.

It is unclear how many, if any, transgender women are competing at an Olympic level. No woman who transitioned from being born male competed in the 2024 Paris Summer Games.

In the meantime, LA28—the organizing committee for the Olympics—said the Games will go on as planned and follow the rules set by the IOC.

“The Games will run under the governance and guidelines of the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee, which determine eligibility criteria for all athletes alongside National Olympic Committees, National Paralympic Committees, and each sport’s International Federation,” LA28 spokesperson Jacie Prieto Lopez told the Post. “We remain focused on creating a safe and welcoming environment for athletes and fans from around the world.”

After an executive board meeting, the IOC published a 10-page policy document that also restricts female athletes such as two-time Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya with medical conditions known as differences in sex development, or DSD.

The IOC and its president, Kirsty Coventry, have wanted a clear policy instead of continuing to advise sports’ governing bodies, who previously drafted their own rules.

“At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat,” Coventry, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, said in a statement. “So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category.”

NCAA athletes Kim Jones and Marshi Smith, co-founders of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, also praised the news.

“We are elated by the announcement from the International Olympic Committee to strengthen protections for the women’s category and ensure a level playing field for female athletes,” they said in a statement to The Post. “A genuine female category at all levels of sport is essential for fairness and for the continued participation of women and girls. When athletes compete on equal terms, it builds trust and inspires the next generation.

The new policy limits eligibility in women’s Olympic events to biological females, determined by a one-time SRY gene screening. It will take effect for the 2028 Summer Games in LA.

“The simple, non-invasive measure of SRY screening offers a solution that is now essential to maintaining integrity across female competition,” the duo added.

Jones, a Stanford tennis All-American, and Smith, a Pac-10 champion swimmer called on the National Collegiate Athletic Association to do the same.

“This marks a return of female sport to elite female athletes in Olympic competition and reaffirms the importance of fairness, safety, and equal opportunity worldwide,” they said. “We call upon the NCAA to follow suit.”

With Post wires