This week, Alaskan swimmer Lydia Jacoby of Seward returns to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, to continue the journey to defend her Tokyo gold medal at the Paris Games.
She and the other female swimmers at the trials won’t have to compete against Lia Thomas, the male swimmer who earned his notoriety by swimming on the women’s team or the University of Pennsylvania and taking an NCAA trophy as a woman in 2022, robbing the other competitors of their rightful standings.
Thomas, who towers over most female competitors, swam into the wall of the Summer Olympics’ Court of Arbitration this week, as it said Thomas lacks standing to compete at the games in Paris next month.
“The panel concludes that she lacks standing to challenge the policy and the operational requirements in the framework of the present proceeding,” the court said Wednesday in its ruling.
Thomas became well known in 2022. After swimming in the men’s division, he started taking hormones to feminize himself and joined the women’s swim team at the University of Pennyslvania. Last year, he won the NCAA championship in the 500-meter freestyle — as a woman.
While University of Pennsylvania and the NCAA allowed Thomas to switch divisions, that’s where his swimming career appears to end.
The 25-year-old male-to-female transgender is banned from swimming as a female by the sport’s governing body in the United States.
Thus, the Olympic court, in a 24-page decision, said Thomas is “simply not entitled to engage with eligibility to compete in WA [World Athletics] competitions” because he isn’t a member of USA Swimming.”
In 2022, World Aquatics, the international governing body, also banned transgenders who have been through male puberty from competing in women’s competitions. Instead, it created an “open” category for transgender athletes.
To be clear, the Olympic Court of Arbitration is disqualifying Thomas because he is disqualified by his own nation’s swimming governing body. He is not being disqualified because he is a man.
With the ruling announced Wednesday, Thomas cannot participate in Olympics qualifying trials in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 15-23.
Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky collegiate swimming champion who has become an advocate for women and girl athletes, said the decision was “a victory for women and girls everywhere.”
Gaines, who visited Alaska earlier last year to promote the protection of women’s sports, took an elbow from NBC News, which criticized her by saying she had “misgendered” Thomas in her comments.
“Actually, @NBCNews, it would be you who misgendered Thomas. When a naked man exposes his p*nis to me & a room full of naked, vulnerable girls non-consensually, a gun to my head wouldn’t make me call him a ‘she’ now. Thomas is a man, therefore his correct pronouns are he/him,” Gaines wrote in response.
“The CAS decision is deeply disappointing,” said Thomas in a statement provided by his legal team. “Blanket bans preventing trans women from competing are discriminatory and deprive us of valuable athletic opportunities that are central to our identities. The CAS decision should be seen as a call to action to all trans women athletes to continue to fight for our dignity and human rights.”
Go Riley! Finally, there’s some common sense in this world.
Back to some sort of sense in women’s sports.
Mr. Thomas said the decision was “discriminatory”.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines discrimination as
transitive verb
1 a: to mark or perceive the distinguishing or peculiar features of
b: distinguish, differentiate
2: to distinguish by discerning or exposing differences : to recognize or identify as separate and distinct
especially : to distinguish from another like object
intratransitive verb
1 a: to make a distinction
b: to use good judgment
2: to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit
I’d say Mr. Thomas is correct, the Olympic Court of Arbitration is capable of telling the difference between a man and a woman just like everyone else in the entire world.
I am old enough to remember when the ability to tell the difference between one thing and another was a good thing.
But, then the leftists weaponized the word discriminate.
Now, you are almost forced to ignore differences and pretend everything is absolutely equivalant.
Plenty of logical fallacies being accurately reported.
Hey Thomas – “The CAS decision should be seen as a call to action to all trans women athletes to continue to fight for our dignity and human rights.” To fight for your dignity, first try: NOT STEPPING ON OTHERS RIGHTS AND DIGNITY. Seems pretty simple to me.
It sure does- the rights and dignity of biological (born) women should never be obscured by men with mental illness who like playing dress up ( even having their own genitalia shoved up or removed) and beating women because they can’t compete with men.
They are the weakest form of men.
Lydia is pure awesomeness, and has enshrined herself in Alaska athletic history. The bulk of the “news” in this piece is a sideshow compared to what you’ve accomplished. You go, girl – keep pouring it on and know we’re all cheering you every step of the way.
Lia is the total package.
Well – he has a package
No, Will has a total package. That’s the issue, right there.
I’d love to see Riley Gaines sue NCAA for fraud. They willfully defrauded her of her rightfully earned placement, medals, and records.
Transgendered people should be allowed to compete … but only in the swimming pool at the mental institute they are sent to.
Can we quit using the word “trans”- for humans
They aren’t transforming into anything- they are still men, they are still women.
Cutting a thumb off ,doesn’t mean a hand isn’t a hand anymore. Likewise cutting of sexual appendages doesn’t keep you from being a man or woman.
Stop taking hormones to make you something you can never be, stop the butchery of your bodies.
Very glad these women will be allowed to compete without the drag show performance- they’ve worked hard and deserve their chance to be recognized.
cut the “rudder” and see if the person, he/she/it/them/her/unresolved still wants to compete. mid non surgery sounds confusing. I kept my tissues for 71 years, as a disclaimer
Maybe we should go back to a saliva test