President Donald Trump said there will be a “very strong form of testing” in response to a question about mandatory genetic testing for women’s sports at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Trump’s response came at a Tuesday White House event where he signed an executive order to establish the creation of an LA28 task force.
“I think there is going to be a very strong form of testing,” Trump said. “There will be a very, very strong form of testing, and if the test doesn’t come out appropriately, then they won’t be in the Olympics.”
President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington, as Vice President JD Vance and Casey Wasserman, chairman of LA28. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) recently amended its athlete safety policy to suggest compliance with Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.
“USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities… to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201,” the policy reads.
Trump said Tuesday that he believes the USOPC would have changed its previous policy that allowed biological males to compete in the women’s competitions even if he hadn’t returned to office and signed the executive order.
“I think they probably would have,” Trump said.
Trump was also asked if he believes the current policy will stay in place after he leaves office.
“There’s a possibility. It could go either way if you really want to know the truth,” Trump said. “I feel strongly about it. I have, I ran a campaign at least partially on that. That was one of the many issues I talked about… that was certainly one of the issues.”
US President Donald Trump holds up an executive order on creating a White House 2028 Olympics task force after signing it in the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 5, 2025. The 2028 Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Many women’s sports rights activists have aggressively called for the implementation of mandatory sex testing in Olympic and NCAA women’s competition since Trump’s executive order was signed.
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), the advocacy group that represents multiple women’s activist athletes, released a statement on July 22 calling for mandatory sex screening for all women’s athletes in USOPC-sanctioned events, after the policy change was publicized.
“The next critical step is for the USOPC to implement sex screening protocols. This will ensure that women are guaranteed equal, fair and safe opportunities in athletic competition. ICONS will not rest until every girl, at every level, in every sport has access to fair competition and privacy in locker rooms,” the statement said.
“The U.S. has a chance to be a leader in standing up for the fair treatment of women around the world.”
Women’s fencer Stephanie Turner, who brought attention to the USOPC policies when she knelt in protest of a trans opponent in footage that went viral in April, also called for the testing.
“Enforcement of this policy is going to be essential,” Turner said. Turner pointed to karyotyping, a test that examines the chromosomes in a sample of cells, as a necessary form of testing.
“You can’t rely on documentation anymore. You can’t rely on drivers license(s), you can’t rely on birth certificates because those can all be edited.”
Former U.S. women’s gymnast Dee Worley also told Fox News Digital that she believes testing should be mandatory in order to protect female competitors.
Worley said that she doesn’t believe any momentum on the issue will be achieved until mandatory sex screenings are implemented.
Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
If it were up to head coach Charlie Wade, the University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball team would never start its season this early.
The Rainbow Warriors, who began their preseason practices on Sunday, will officially begin their 2026 campaign on Friday against the New Jersey Institute of Technology. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. Although the ‘Bows have routinely started their seasons on the first Friday of the year, that doesn’t mean Wade has to like it.
“I’ve advocated that the first match can’t be before (Martin Luther King Jr. Day),” Wade said on Monday. “Let them actually have a holiday and then come back and practice for a couple of weeks. But how it goes, everybody kind of ramps it up, practices for a few days and then starts playing.”
One of the few positives Wade sees in the compressed preseason schedule is the fact that the Rainbow Warriors are not in class yet, which allows them the time to focus on an intense schedule featuring two practices a day leading up to the opener.
Trips to the practice gym have been frequent in recent days. Inside of it is a collection of world-class athletes, a roster featuring players from seven different countries and four separate states. Although there’s only one senior among the 19 players, the Rainbow Warriors are a team with clear national championship expectations in 2026.
The Rainbow Warriors have played in four national championship matches under Wade, winning it all in 2021 and 2022. The ‘Bows went 27-6 in 2025 and were swept by UCLA in the national semifinals. In 2026, UH returns five of its seven starters in that semifinal match, not counting star opposite hitter Kristian Titriyski, who missed the last eight matches due to an ankle injury.
Despite its losses in personnel, the Rainbow Warriors have reloaded. After losing beloved assistant coach Milan Zarkovic to UCLA, Wade got Maui native and former Ball State head coach Donan Cruz to join the staff. Meanwhile, the void left by former starting libero ‘Eleu Choy will likely be filled by Canadian national teamer Quintin Greenidge, a newcomer in Mānoa who will have two years of college eligibility remaining.
When Grand Canyon University decided to immediately scrap its nationally ranked men’s volleyball program following the 2025 season to focus on other sports, the Rainbow Warriors were able to benefit by signing freshman All-American Trevell Jordan and former GCU commit Thatcher Fahlbusch. Jordan is competing for one of the two starting spots at middle blocker, along with Ofeck Hazan, Justin Todd, Alex Parks and 7-foot freshman Roman Payne.
“None of us saw it coming,” Jordan said of Grand Canyon punting on men’s volleyball. “The team and squad (at UH) has been really inviting. They’ve been working with me to get me more accommodated to here, as it’s a big move from where I originally was from.”
Jordan immediately became one of the most coveted players in the NCAA transfer portal upon entering. He was already familiar with a handful of players on the UH roster after playing with them on multiple United States national teams.
“He had offers to go to every top program in the country, and ironically, they were pushing him to make a fast decision, and they pushed him towards us,” Wade recalled. “I was the one saying, ‘Hey, I’m in for the long haul. I want you here. Take your time to figure it out.'”
Running the show for the Rainbow Warriors is Tread Rosenthal, the team’s 6-foot-11 setter who established himself as the team’s unquestioned leader as a sophomore in 2025.
“I think last year we showed that we had the potential to be the best team on any given night, but I think this year we need to be the best team every night no matter what,” Rosenthal said. “I think that just comes with working with together to get it more consistent.”
Added Wade: “It’s year three (for Rosenthal). It’s the payoff year, right? By the third year, you can see there’s just kind of a calm confidence to him that he’s kind of been there, done that. He clearly is the leader of the team. These are his guys. A lot of them are here because of him. Looking for even bigger and better things from him this year for sure.”
Hawai‘i will start off the year as the No. 2 team in the country following the release of the preseason AVCA poll, which had UCLA in the top spot. External expectations are high for the Rainbow Warriors, but internal expectations are higher.
“My freshman year, we didn’t go to the championship. My sophomore year, we lost in the the semis,” junior outside hitter Louis Sakanoko said. “We have to get the championship now. I feel like the whole team knows we could win the championship. We have the team for it, but now we need to be consistent enough to beat every single team every night. And we’re just really, really excited to prove that to everyone.
“We all want to win a national championship. That’s the goal. We won the Big West last year, that was wonderful for sure, but we want that big one.”
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
Setter: Madison Markwardt, Round Top-Carmine, soph.
Libero/Defensive Specialist: Ana Servin, Sulphur Bluff, sr.
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Professional Volleyball League team Choco Mucho Flying Titans announced four addition to their team, Eya Laure, Jaila Atienza, Alina Bicar, and Caitlin Viray, for 2026 on Wednesday.
“The Choco Mucho Flying Titans welcome 4 new players to the team! They bring the grit, speed, and fire that will make every match unforgettable,” they wrote in their post.
This came after Royse Tubino, Bia General, Cherry Nunag, and Aduke Agunsanya ended their stint with the team. (Instagram/Choco Mucho Flying Titans)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – – Belmont University student-athletes recorded another remarkable semester in the classroom as 2025 fall semester grades were finalized last week.
For the 2025 fall semester, the departmental grade-point average (GPA) was 3.530, which marked the 56th consecutive semester that Belmont student-athletes have earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher. In addition, it was the 12th straight semester that the department GPA was over a 3.5.
“Our student-athletes continue to do an amazing job in the classroom,” said Scott Corley, Belmont’s Vice President/Director of Athletics. “That success is a credit to our student-athletes, coaches, and academic support staff who continue to maintain our department’s commitment to academic excellence.”
Highlights from the fall semester included:
64 percent of student-athletes achieved a semester GPA of 3.5 or higher
85 percent of student-athletes achieved a semester GPA of 3.0 of higher
15 percent of student-athletes earned a perfect 4.00 GPA
9 Bruin teams posted a team GPA of 3.5 or higher for the semester.
About Belmont University
Located two miles from downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Belmont University comprises nearly 9,000 students from every state and 33 countries. Nationally ranked and consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report for innovation in higher education, the University offers more than 115 areas of undergraduate study, 41 master’s programs and eight doctoral degrees. With a focus on whole-person formation and data-informed social innovation, Belmont is committed to forming diverse leaders of character equipped to solve the world’s complex problems. For more information, visit www.belmont.edu.
After winning the women’s Volleyball Nations League and the FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship earlier in the year, Italy crowned a great season with the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship title. Turkiye reached a World Championship final for the first time in history and settled for silver, while Brazil completed the podium with bronze. The year’s top event was held in Thailand from August 22 to September 7.
The first World Championship under the new biennial cycle and with an expanded 32-team format marked a breakthrough moment for the sport, with unprecedented audiences across volleyball’s major markets. Volleyball World’s OTT platform, VBTV, added further momentum with more than 7 million views across the championship. The Italy v Brazil semifinal attracted 350 thousand viewers, while the final drew 250 thousand, underscoring the global appetite for premium volleyball coverage beyond traditional broadcast. Social media popularity of the competition was expressed in 7.8 thousand posts and 145 million impressions, as well as 48 million YouTube views.
The 32 participating teams were drawn into eight round-robin pools of four for the first phase of the competition. Reigning Paris 2024 Olympic champions Italy cruised through Pool B undefeated, dropping a set only in their match against Belgium. They went on to sweep their eighthfinal against Germany and their quarterfinal against Poland in straight sets. In a hard-fought semifinal against Brazil, the Italians came back from a set down twice before emerging with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 28-30, 25-22, 15-13) victory. The gold medal showdown in Bangkok was also pushed to five sets. This time Turkiye came back from a set down twice to get closer than ever to the world title, but the trophy went to Italy after they prevailed in the tie-breaker, 3-2 (25-23, 13-25, 26-24, 19-25, 15-8). It was the second world crown for Italy, after their 2002 triumph. They also won silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022.
“I still can’t believe it,” Italian super-star opposite Paola Egonu said after the gold medal match. “I’m really proud of the team and incredibly happy. This is a moment I’ll never forget. It’s probably the last time for some of our players, too, and my heart is full now.”
Turkiye also reached the final undefeated. They did not lose a single set in Pool E, shut out Slovenia in the eighthfinals and beat USA in four sets in the quarterfinals. Another four-set victory, a 3-1 (16-25, 25-17, 25-18, 27-25) comeback in the semifinal against Japan, propelled Turkiye to their first ever World Championship final and secured them their first ever World Championship medal.
2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship silver medalists Turkiye
Brazil also won Pool C unbeaten, but only after coming back from two sets down to reverse-sweep their match against France. After a four-set eighthfinal victory over the Dominican Republic and a tight straight-set quarterfinal against France, they lost narrowly to Italy in the semis, but bounced back in the third-place playoff against Japan. A nail-biting 3-2 (25-12, 25-17, 19-25, 27-29, 18-16) win added the sixth medal to their World Championship collection. Brazil now have four silvers and two bronzes.
2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship bronze medalists Brazil
Japan, USA, the Netherlands, Poland, France, China, Serbia, Belgium, Germany, Thailand, the Dominican Republic, Canada, Slovenia, Ukraine, Spain, Sweden, Kenya, Greece, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Czechia, Colombia, Bulgaria, Puerto Rico, Egypt, Slovakia, Vietnam and Cameroon, in that order, took the places from fourth to 32nd in the final standings.
Italy’s 27-year-old setter Alessia Orro was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the World Championship. She also headlined the Dream Team, which featured opposite Melissa Vargas (Turkiye), outside hitters Mayu Ishikawa (Japan) and Gabriela Guimaraes (Brazil), middle blockers Anna Danesi (Italy) and Eda Erdem (Turkiye), and libero Monica De Gennaro (Italy).
The 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Dream Team
Click here for the official FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship website.
