World Athletics Tightens Rules on Trans Athletes: Why This Matters
Olympics team.The problem for some was not that Thomas had become the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA championship but that she had gone from being ranked 554th in the men's 200m freestyle and 65th in the men's 500m freestyle in 2017-2018, before transitioning to being the number one 500m freestyle swimmer in the women's category.Thomas' winning performance had become a lightning rod for what some argue is sport's greatest existential crisis.The NCAA, college sports' governing body, had decided not to adopt USA Swimming's rules, which stated that trans athletes must undergo three years of hormone replacement therapy before being allowed to compete.University of Pennsylvania student Thomas, had transitioned the year before the competition and was thus eligible to compete.With their being consternation among some sportswomen that transgender athletes were going to swamp competitions and start taking the top prizes, World Athletics took a stance and ruled that they would not be allowed to compete in women's competitions.This was applauded by former swimmer Riley Gaines, an activist against transgender women participating on female sports teams, who told Newsweek: "This ruling represents what the overwhelming majority of people, especially elite athletes, want."However, Hudson Taylor, founder and executive director of LGBTQ+ advocacy group Athlete Ally, told Newsweek: "We are beyond devastated to see World Athletics succumbing to political pressure instead of core principles of inclusion, fairness and non-discrimination for transgender athletes and athletes with intersex traits."There had been concerns raised that transgender athletes who had gone through male puberty had an unfair advantage on as their naturally.
