Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas will not let an opportunity pass to an athlete woman during the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Thomas, the male biological athlete who won the women’s national championship in 2022 while swimming for Penn, officially lost a legal battle against World Aquatics, in which Thomas claimed that the ban on competing against women was “invalid and illegal”.
At the twenty -five year old it was forbidden to swim in the female category in the summer of 2022, when the sports body of sport prohibited anyone who had crossed “any phase of male puberty” to compete against biological women.
World Aquatics has welcomed the Court’s decision to confirm the rule that prevents Thomas from entering the pool with women, calling it “an important step forward in our efforts to protect women’s sports”.
“World Aquatics undertakes to promote an environment that promotes equity, respect and equal opportunities for athletes of all sexes and we reiterate this commitment,” said the organization, according to what was reported byThe Guardian .
It is worth noting that World Aquatics has not excluded transgender athletes from competitions. The organization introduced an “open” category for transgender swimmers. The debut of the new category was scheduled for the Berlin World Cup last year, but did not receive any registration.
Lia Thomas standing next to Riley Gaines of Outkick after winning a NCAA title against biological women. (Photo of Rich Von Biberstein/icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Thomas, who at most was an average swimmer when he competed against men, is no longer a member of the US Swimming, which makes the court sentence much easier against a change in politics to their advantage.
“The College concludes that, since the athlete does not have the right to participate in an ‘elite event’ pursuant to the policy of the US Swimming, much less of competing in a WA competition, which takes place at the time of registration at WA before a competition or at the time of establishing a performance that leads to a request for registration as a world record, simply does not have the right to make use of the hydoneity to compete in the WA competitions,” Court, according to the agency.
“Politics and operating requirements are simply not activated by its current state.”
The US Olympic selections will begin on June 15 in Indianapolis and, for the first time ever, they will take place on a football field, the Lucas Oil Stadium.
In 2022, when Espn and ABC paid tribute to Thomas during the month of women’s history, Thomas met with ‘Good Morning America’ and clarified that he had the 2024 Olympics in mind.
“Participating in the Olympic selections has been my goal for a long time and I would love to succeed,” said Thomas.
Fortunately, common sense has prevailed and women will be given the opportunity to compete in the women’s swimming team and to represent the United States in Paris.
