Champion female swimmer Riley Gaines absolutely eviscerated ESPN for a segment the sports channel ran promoting Lia Thomas, a biological male, this weekend during its coverage of “Celebrating Women’s History Month,” pandering to leftists and transgenders.

“In 2022, swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I Championship by winning the 500 Freestyle,” the segment highlighted. “The Texas native competed for three seasons on the men’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania.”

“People will say, ‘Oh, she just transitioned so she would have an advantage so she could win,’” Thomas claimed during the segment. “I transitioned to be happy.”

Gaines wasn’t having any of it and wrote on Twitter, “Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title. He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman. The @ncaa is responsible. If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out. You’re spineless @espn #boycottESPN.”

Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title. He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman. The @ncaa is responsible.

If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out. You're spineless @espn #boycottESPN https://t.co/DF3n5RWsmV

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 26, 2023

Riley Gaines swam for the University of Kentucky, ending her college career in 2022 as “one of the most decorated swimmers in program history.” She became a 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer and a five-time SEC champion.

Gaines competed against transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas in the NCAA championships in March 2022. She claimed that the experience of racing Thomas “felt like I was going into the race with my hands tied behind my back.”

(Video Credit: Daily Mail)

“Whether they have different lung capacities, their height, testosterone levels whether they’ve used testosterone blockers or not — it doesn’t suppress going through puberty as a male. Especially Lia, who swam for three years as a male,” Gaines told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson during an interview in April 2022. “Lia Thomas has shown extreme selfishness and a major lack of awareness — and just an utter disregard for women.”

“We’re watching the denial of the most basic of truths,” she contended. “When you can’t acknowledge what a woman is, there’s a huge problem. This is deeper than just sports. This is a systematic erasure of what a woman is.”

(Video Credit: Fox News)

The World Athletics Council announced Thursday that it is not going to allow transgender athletes to compete against women in female World Rankings competitions. That ruling will go into effect this week. It will ban “male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty.”

“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,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe commented. “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.”

Correct https://t.co/WtyvIayQxM

— Todd Erzen (@DeaceOnline) March 24, 2023

The organization contends that it consulted with Member Federations, the Global Athletics Coaches Academy and Athletes’ Commission, and the IOC on the decision. They noted that there was “little support within the sport for the option that was first presented to stakeholders, which required transgender athletes to maintain their testosterone levels below 2.5nmol/L for 24 months to be eligible to compete internationally in the female category.”

The World Athletics Council is the international governing body that oversees and dictates policy for sprints, middle/long, hurdles, road running, jumps, throws, combined events, race walks, relays, cross country, mountain running, ultra running, and trail running.

“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,” the organization asserted. “In these circumstances, the Council decided to prioritize fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion.”

 

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