The Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, ruled that by changing her gender, Thomas violated the rules of the women’s categories. “The panel concluded that since the athlete was not eligible to compete in elite competition under USA Swimming Association policy, much less to compete in World Aquatics (WA) competitions (…), she simply had no right to participate or to receive eligibility for WA competitions,” CAS said.
Twenty-five-year-old Thomas began to question her gender identity at the end of high school. In 2020, while still William, she changed her name to Lia. But that’s late by USA Swimming standards, and since she’s gone through male puberty, her participation in the women’s categories is not in line with the organization’s policies.
World Aquatics (formerly known as the International Swimming Federation) welcomed the CAS decision as essential for the protection of women’s sport. “World Aquatics is committed to fostering an environment that promotes fairness, respect and equal opportunity for athletes of all genders, and we reaffirm that commitment,” World Aquatics said in a statement. According to scientific studies, female athletes who have gone through male puberty have a significant advantage over women from birth.
In 2022, two years after transitioning, Thomas became the first transgender U.S. collegiate swimmer and expressed her desire to qualify for the Paris Olympics. However, the dream of representing the United States at the upcoming Games was dashed by Thomas’ ruling.
Transgender celebrity Caitlyn Jenner, who as William Bruce Jenner won gold in the decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, has repeatedly spoken out against her case.
“The difference between men and women exists based on DNA or your chromosomes, which leads to our physical development regardless of trans hormones, surgeries, post-transition status. There are huge benefits and undeniable differences in male development that essentially goes through male puberty. The solution is simple: when it comes to sport and biological sex, you must compete in the category of the biological sex you were born in. This is essential to protect the integrity of competition and women’s sport,” Jenner said.
After the World Aquatics, the World Athletics organization introduced a similar rule, but the rules for the participation of transgender athletes are not unified. For example, in the case of acrobatic skiing, even trans people who identify as men can compete with women.
At the previous summer Olympics in Tokyo, the first ever trans weightlifter from New Zealand, Laurel Hubbard, also presented herself. But her debut didn’t work out. She did not complete the competition, as she did not have any successful attempts in the market.
2024-06-13 19:53:03
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