Steve Mesler

This was the inevitable conclusion.

When I was on the USOPC Board of Directors, we dealt with this subject directly. I sat through training sessions led by transgender advocates. I sat in meetings with people who worked on this topic every single day. I listened to and sat alongside people who marched the halls of Congress in the 1970s fighting for the passage of Title IX. And every one of those experiences, to me, pointed here.

The framework we used at the time was simple: How do you rank elite sport’s priorities at the Olympic level between:
- Safety
- Fairness
- Inclusion
?

Which comes first, second, third?

That was the lens. We asked the athletes. We talked about it at the board level. The athletes and the board had different priorities. But it didn’t matter - the IOC declared the National Olympic Committees weren’t the decision-makers. It was up to the individual international sports. So we didn’t declare a side out of respect for the athlete reps, elected by athletes across all sports.

That same thing happened around the world. For over a decade, the IOC passed the buck - partly because the science wasn’t yet definitive, and partly because they didn’t want to own what had become an incredibly politically charged issue. Before Paris 2024, major sports like track and field, swimming, and cycling had already excluded transgender women on their own, creating a patchwork of inconsistent rules.

Today, IOC President Kirsty Coventry announced transgender women are banned from women’s Olympic events starting with the 2028 LA Games - reversing over two decades of inclusivity by avoidance. Since the IOC first allowed transgender athletes to participate in 2004, only one openly transgender woman ever competed.

The science is now clear. Whether you agree or disagree, my hope is that everyone can agree it’s a good thing to see those at the top finally taking accountability - one clear entity to praise or blame, rather than a dozen federations and national Olympic committees caught in the middle because they were made to be.

This was inevitable.

How would YOU rank them — Safety, Fairness, Inclusion? Drop your order in the comments.

That was fun.

👊🙌 Red, White, and Gold Gala - with runway show designed by

16 years ago today, a clock satisfactorily answered everyone’s questions.

No judges. No style points. No committee. A sled, a track, gravity, ice, and a clock that doesn’t care about your story, your feelings, or your last name.

3:24.46 across four runs. Fastest time wins. Period.

I was just in Cortina watching Olympic bobsled in a place I raced many times — and I was reminded of something the world is slowly forgetting:

There is something sacred about a result you cannot argue with.

In bobsled, the ice doesn’t care what school you went to. The clock has no idea if you’re well-connected or well-liked. You push, you load, you ride, and at the bottom, a number appears. That number is the truth.

I found this sport on the internet in 2001. Nobody recruited me. I showed up to a combine and either ran fast enough or I didn’t. For 10 years, every day was an audition. 20 guys would’ve done anything to take my seat, and I knew every one by name.

That pressure — relentless, uncomfortable, beautiful — is what made February 27, 2010 mean what it meant.

We talk today about removing friction and protecting people from the discomfort of competition. Some of that is compassionate and overdue. But in protecting people from losing, let’s not rob them of what it feels like to truly earn something.

Night Train broke a 62-year gold medal drought and we were inducted into the Team USA Hall of Fame. Not because we wanted it more — everybody wants it. Because our pilot, the late Steven Holcomb, learned to drive nearly blind then relearned with new eyes. Because Justin Olsen, Curt Tomasevicz, and I pushed with nothing in reserve. Because for years, we made thousands of small, boring, disciplined decisions that compounded into four runs that changed our lives.

That’s what meritocracy actually looks like. Not a word on a poster. The real thing. Measured in hundredths of a second.

20 years came down to 4.73 seconds at a time.

Standing trackside in Cortina this month, I was struck by how pure it still is. In a world of noise, algorithms, and shortcuts — the track remains ruthlessly honest.

Go earn something today that nobody can take from you.

Cortina’s calling. Day 3: Bobsled medals day! 🤯

Cortina’s calling. Day two. 🫡🔥