JK Rowling slams transgender handball player who hopes to play against women at Olympics

Hannah Mouncey is hoping to play women’s handball in the Olympics

“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling slammed a transgender handball player who feared that they would be unable to compete for a spot on Australia’s women’s Olympic team as biological males have been banned from competing in women’s sports.

Hannah Mouncey, a former Australian rules football player, said on the “Sacked” podcast they hoped to be able to compete on the women’s team in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. But Mouncey said that didn’t seem likely.

J. K. Rowling arrives for the Guinness Six Nations match at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh.  (Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)

Rowling, who has been in favor of keeping women’s sports fair, responded on social media.

“Man fears he won’t be allowed to cheat his way to the Olympics by playing against women,” Rowling wrote on X. “Man says anti-cheat sentiment is being ‘weaponized’ against men like him, who cheat. Read more here about why the cheating man is sad and why the women he might injure just don’t matter.”

Mouncey dismissed the notion that transgender athletes had an advantage over females.

“There’s this idea that trans athletes have an unfair advantage, but the results don’t show that,” Mouncey said. “I’ve always believed in fairness and restrictions where needed, but blanket bans are not the answer.”

The International Handball Federation’s transgender policy went into effect in 2022.

Hannah Mouncey of Darebin handpasses the ball during the round 8 VFLW match between Williamstown and Darebin at Williamstown Football Ground on July 1, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia.  (Daniel Pockett/AFL Media/Getty Images)

The policy stated that transgender athletes to compete against female athletes “must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Expert Panel (on the balance of probabilities), in accordance with clause 4, that the concentration of testosterone in her serum has been less than 5 nmol/L1 continuously for a period of at least 12 months; and she must keep her serum testosterone concentration below 5 nmol/L for so long as she continues to compete in the female category of competition.”

Additionally, the policy stated that the athlete will need “a test result from at least 12 months but not earlier than 14 months prior to the athlete’s first competition which indicates that the transgender female athlete’s total testosterone level in serum was below 5 nmol/L” and “an affidavit from a medical professional stating that the transgender female athlete’s total testosterone level in serum has been below 5 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to the athlete’s first competition.”

International Olympic Committee chief Kirsty Coventry said in January there was “overwhelming support” by IOC members to protect the women’s category.

Kirsty Coventry laughs during a press conference after she was elected as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Thursday, March 20, 2025.  (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP Photo)

She added that there is “unanimous” support for coming to an agreement about how to amend the policy, and suggested the IOC may take inspiration from the World Athletics policy, which restricts biological males from competing in women’s sports if those males have gone through male puberty.