Lia Thomas loses her legal battle and will not have the chance to qualify for the Olympics, marking a major victory for women’s sports and facing the heaviest penalty in sports history for fraudulent conduct
Thomas, the biological male who won a women’s national championship in 2022 while swimming for Penn, has officially lost a legal battle against World Aquatics in which Thomas argued that his ban on competing against women was “invalid and unlawful.”
The 25-year-old was banned from swimming in the women’s category in the summer of 2022 when the sport’s governing body banned anyone who had undergone “any part of male puberty” from competing against biological females.
World Aquatics welcomed the court’s decision to uphold the rule keeping Thomas out of the women’s pool, calling it “a major step forward in our efforts to protect women’s sports.”
“World Aquatics is dedicated to fostering an environment that promotes equity, respect, and equal opportunity for athletes of all genders, and we reaffirm this promise,” the organization said, according to The Guardian.
It’s worth noting that World Aquatics has not banned transgender athletes from competition. The organization has introduced an “open” category for transgender swimmers. The new category debuted during last year’s World Cup in Berlin, but the category didn’t receive a single entry.
Lia Thomas stands next to Outkick’s Riley Gaines after winning an NCAA title against biological females. (Photo by Rich Von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Thomas, who was an average swimmer at best when she competed against the men, is no longer a member of USA Swimming, making the court’s decision against a policy change to benefit them so easy.
“The panel concludes that since the athlete is not entitled to participate in the ‘elite event’ within the meaning of USA Swimming policy, let alone to compete in a WA competition, which occurs upon registration with WA prior to a competition or by establishing a performance that leads to an application for registration as a WA World Record, he is simply not entitled to engage with eligibility to compete in WA competitions,” the tribunal said, according to the WA outlet.
“Policy and operational requirements are simply not triggered by their current state.”
The U.S. Olympic Trials will begin June 15 in Indianapolis and, for the first time, will be held on a football field at Lucas Oil Stadium.
In 2022, when ESPN and ABC honored Thomas during Women’s History Month, Thomas sat down with “Good Morning America” and made it clear that the 2024 Olympics were on her mind.
“It’s been a goal of mine to swim in Olympic trials for a long time, and I would love to see that happen,” Thomas said.
Fortunately, common sense has prevailed, and the women will be given the opportunity to compete on the women’s swim team and represent the United States in Paris.
