Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas’s challenge against being banned from competing in women’s competitions has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
The court ruled that Thomas’s request lacked standing and dismissed the case.
World Aquatics welcomed the decision, saying it was another step forward “in our efforts to protect women’s sports.”
World Aquatics banned male-identified trans swimmers from competing in women’s categories in 2022, creating a separate “open” category for biological male athletes to compete in.
However, Thomas petitioned the Switzerland sports court to overturn the rules, claiming they were discriminatory, invalid, and unlawful.
Thomas is now barred from competing in the Olympics, per the rule.
“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,” World Aquatics said.
“Our policies and practices are continuously evaluated to ensure they align with these core values, which led to the introduction of our open category.”
“We remain committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders to uphold the principles of inclusivity in aquatic sports and remain confident that our gender inclusion policy represents a fair approach.”
Reuters reported:
The new eligibility policy stated that male-to-female transgender athletes are eligible to compete only if they can establish to World Aquatics’ “comfortable satisfaction that they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 (of puberty) or before age 12, whichever is later”.
The policy eventually led to several other sports governing bodies — such as World Athletics — making the decision to ban transgender women who had gone through male puberty from elite female competitions.
Thomas swam for the University of Pennsylvania and won an NCAA title in women’s competitions, breaking records along the way.
Thomas did not compete in the World Aquatics competitive system, but filed a case to be able to compete at the highest level.
In the court filing, judges argued that USA Swimming had no authority “to modify such scope of application” of the world governing body rules.
The judges ruled that Thomas “lacks standing to challenge the policy and the operational requirements in the framework of the present proceeding.”
Former swimmer Riley Gaines praised the ruling on X:
“Now the NCAA needs to strip him of every award, title, and record he stole from a deserving female athlete.”
Now the @ncaa needs to strip him of every award, title, and record he stole from a deserving female athlete https://t.co/9aku4sFgxk
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 12, 2024
READ: Female Runners Stand in Silent Protest as Trans Runner Wins Girls 400M Race
