World Aquatics, the international body that manages swimming competitions, recently won its legal battle with Lia Thomas, who sued and demanded that male-to-female trans athletes be allowed to compete in competitions, such as the upcoming summer Olympics in Paris. Thomas lost, and now former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines is calling on the NCAA to stip Thomas of any NCAA awards Thomas won, given the recent ruling.
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.”
Thomas sued and demanded it be withdrawn, but lost. After Thomas’ loss, women’s sports activist Riley Gaines, posted about the matter on X, saying, “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.”
Now, Gaines is calling on the NCAA to strip Thomas of all awards won while in the NCAA and reissue those awards, giving them to the athletes Thomas beat. Quote tweeting an article from the New York Post about Thomas’ loss, Gaines wrote, “Now the @ncaa needs to strip him of every award, title, and record he stole from a deserving female athlete.”
Numerous commenters agreed with Gaines. For example, Tristin Tate, brother of influencer Andrew Tate, wrote, “Plus track down every girl who came “4th” and give her the money, scholarships, bonuses and trophies she deserved for 3rd place.” Similarly, Missouri Secretary of State Valentina Gomez wrote, “It’s the least the @NCAA can do. They allowed for the theft of a title that belonged to you and gave it to a mediocre useless dude.”
Others even called on the NCAA to be sued over the matter. One commenter, for example, wrote, “@NCAA @Riley_Gaines_ is right you’re about to get hit with a major class action lawsuit maybe even criminal. Every executive at @NCAA needs to be named and served preservation letters and then massive lawsuit filed.” Similarly, another added, “NCAA should be sued for allowing this to happen .. and yes .. the records need to corrected.”
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Yet another commenter argued, “Absolutely agree with you, Riley! It’s essential that the @ncaa ensures fairness and integrity in women’s sports. Every award, title, and record earned should honor the hard work and dedication of deserving female athletes. It’s time to take a stand and protect the future of women’s sports! #FairPlay #WomenInSports #EqualityInSports”
Watch Gaines talk to podcast host Joe Rogan about Thomas here:
Featured image credit:By Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America – Riley Gaines, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=132979681