Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who rose to public notoriety in 2022 after winning NCAA women’s swimming titles, recently lost a major lawsuit against the international body that governs swimming competitions and so will be unable to participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Thomas’ suit against World Aquatics had to do with the group’s rules on trans athletes, which Thomas wanted vacated.
For reference, World Aquatics’ rules, passed in the wake of the 2022 controversy, released new rules regarding the participation of transgender athletes in ranked women’s swimming competitions. The heavy restrictions on testosterone and outright ban on male-to-female transgender athletes meant Thomas would be excluded from the Olympics, amidst other events, hence the lawsuti.
The specific rule having to do with Thomas’ situation, released along with other new regulations in the spring of 2023, provides, “In regard to transgender athletes, the Council has agreed to exclude male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty from female World Rankings competition from 31 March 2023.”
Then, explaining the regulation, World Athletics added, “However, there are currently no transgender athletes competing internationally in athletics and consequently no athletics-specific evidence of the impact these athletes would have on the fairness of female competition in athletics. In these circumstances, the Council decided to prioritise fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion.”
In any case, Thomas challenged those rules, arguing that they are, as the Guardian reports, contrary to both the Olympics charter and also the constitution for World Aquatics. As a result of those alleged violations, Thomas argued the rules regarding transgender athletes, particularly the one banning male-to-female transgender athletes from participating, should be declared “invalid and unlawful.”
The court to which Thomas took the complaint, the court of arbitration for sport, disagreed; it, in a 24-page decision on the case, found that, whatever Thomas’ allegations, Thomas had no standing to challenge the rules as someone who is not a member of US swimming. The court concluded, the Guardian reports, that Thomas was “simply not entitled to engage with eligibility to compete in WA competitions.”
World Aquatics celebrated the ruling, said it was “a major step forward in our efforts to protect women’s sport”. Continuing, the swimming organization added, “World Aquatics is dedicated to fostering an environment that promotes fairness, respect, and equal opportunities for athletes of all genders and we reaffirm this pledge.”
That the rules won’t change for Thomas should have been obvious. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said, at the time the decision came out, “Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations. We will be guided in this by the science around physical performance and male advantage which will inevitably develop over the coming years. As more evidence becomes available, we will review our position, but we believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount.”
Women’s sports activist Riley Gaines, posting about the matter on X after the ruling came out, said, “Great news! Lia Thomas won’t be able to compete in women’s category at the Olympics or any other elite competition. He has just lost his legal battle in Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling. This is a victory for women and girls everywhere.”
Watch Gaines talk to podcast host Joe Rogan about Thomas here:
Featured image credit: By Iszac Henig (rights holder) – Boston, Massachusetts HRT: Had a Remarkable Time, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127712460
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