May 31, 2022, 09:38am
In her first on-camera interview since becoming a central figure in the debate, Lia Thomas defended her right to participate in women's sports.
Lia Thomas is a former swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania.
In an interview with Good Morning America, Thomas said that trans people don't transition for athletics.
Thomas became a figure of unwanted national attention as the debate about whether women should participate in women's sports raged.
Being able to compete in swimming prevented Thomas from transitioning earlier.
The Ivy League canceled all winter athletic competition in the 2020-21 academic year after Thomas transitioned to the women's team. Thomas quickly rose to dominance on the women's team, famously winning a race in December by 38 seconds, and her ranking among female athletes were vastly better than how she performed on the men's team. There is limited research on the performance of trans athletes, but the debate focuses on when testosterone production is stopped. The surge of testosterone during puberty among biological males causes long-term differences in performance among females, according to a doctor at the New York Times. More than a dozen of her Penn teammates signed an anonymous letter in February not supporting her right to compete, while more than 300 college professional swimmers wrote a rebuttal letter in March. Several of the most prominent athletes opposed Thomas being able to compete, including lesbian tennis star and Olympic gold medal winner Caitlyn Jenner. Despite the national attention, Thomas stayed out of the spotlight, denying interview requests throughout the season before talking to Sports Illustrated and the NYT Sunday.
I am not a medical expert, but there is a lot of variation among female athletes. Should that also disqualify them?
There has been a surge in legislation against trans athletes and 18 states have legal restrictions on their participation in sports. The NCAA changed its rules in January to allow individual sports to determine whether or not athletes can compete.
What Lia Thomas could mean for women in sports.
Lia Thomas is a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer.
Lia Thomas opens up in an interview.
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