Controversial ESPN contributor Sarah Spain—a frequent and outspoken critic of both Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance—has launched a sharp attack on the International Olympic Committee following its recent decision to block transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
In late March, the IOC announced that a one-time SRY gene test would be used to help “protect fairness, safety and integrity in the female category,” the Daily Mail reports. The IOC transgender rule change Sarah Spain is lamenting about comes after high-profile controversy involving boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting at the Paris 2024 Olympics, amid claims they failed gender eligibility testing under the International Boxing Association (IBA).
Ex-ESPN star Sarah Spain felt ‘ill’ sitting near ‘demon’ JD Vance at Winter Olympics: ‘Like the devil’ https://t.co/gdQySYG90q pic.twitter.com/RLLizQd2dn
— New York Post (@nypost) February 14, 2026
On her podcast Good Game, Sarah Spain introduced the issue by saying there was “not nearly enough time to dig into all that’s going on in the world of trans inclusion in sport, Olympic sex testing and the general decay of humanity.”
Sarah Spain went on to outline the IOC’s new one-time testing requirement for female athletes, which is designed to determine whether an individual carries a gene associated with male s-x development. The SRY gene test—conducted via saliva, cheek swab, or blood sample—is considered by the International Olympic Committee to be less invasive than other potential methods.
Because the SRY gene is a part of the Y chromosome, its presence would make an athlete ineligible to compete in women’s events, under the new IOC protocols.
Sarah Spain strongly criticized the new IOC transgender policy applauded by Trump, saying, “The outcome of this new policy is that all trans women will be banned from female categories, many athletes with differences of sex development will be banned, and every single woman who wants to compete will be subjected to a test to determine if she is indeed, in the eyes of the IOC, a real woman.”
She continued later in the episode, questioning the timing and intent behind the move. “What does it say about the general state of the world that the IOC is introducing these policies now?” she asked.
“Going back in time, reintroducing policies that were already deemed dangerous and doing it at a time when persecution of trans people is a political cudgel as opposed to because of a problem that is emerging that they’re trying to have an answer to. It feels, as with most trans policy, a solution looking for a problem.”
Trans activist and athlete @TheChrisMosier shares how he approaches conversations with folks who seem uneducated about trans issues.
Listen to the full episode: https://t.co/9uZOmfaJLZ pic.twitter.com/zZrRTalYUj
— Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain) January 20, 2026
Spain has also been vocal in her criticism of the Trump administration. Earlier this year at the Winter Olympics, she said she felt “ill” sitting near Vice President JD Vance when he attended to support Team USA.
‘Twelve minutes into the first period, that area suddenly is awash with large men in suits with earpieces. And here comes JD Vance carrying a child and a bunch of security, and eventually Marco Rubio,’” she said while recounting the moment.
Sarah Spain didn’t hold back in her criticism, adding: “When I see JD Vance’s eyeliner face, I literally feel ill, like a basilisk had looked you in the eye and death was awaiting you on the other side. “And I don’t even believe in that, but my body felt like when you’ve been spooked and you have a little tingle that feels like, ‘ooh, something’s not right.’”
The ESPN host also complained that the security presence disrupted the game, claiming the Secret Service detail was “blocking half the ice. We’re trying to watch a hockey game.”
At another matchup between the U.S. and Canada, Spain said she spotted Vance again—this time alongside boxer and influencer Jake Paul. “[Vance] brought a little demon friend, Jake Paul. Talk about only the finest people representing America,” she remarked.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump weighed in on the IOC’s decision, taking credit for the move. “Congratulations to the International Olympic Committee on their decision to ban men from women’s sports,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is only happening because of my powerful Executive Order, standing up for Women and Girls!”
The next Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in Los Angeles in the summer of 2028.
