BREAKING NEWS: Lia Thomas loses her legal battle and will not have the chance to qualify for the Olympics, a major victory for women’s sport.
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas will not be given the opportunity to compete as a female athlete at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Thomas, the biological male who won a women’s national championship in 2022 while swimming for Penn, has officially lost a legal battle against 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 by barring Thomas from 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 fairness, respect and equal opportunity for athletes of all genders, and we reaffirm that 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 at last year’s World Cup in Berlin, but the category did not receive a single entry.
Lia Thomas stands next to Outkick’s Riley Gaines after winning an NCAA title against the biological women. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Thomas, who was at best an average swimmer when she competed against the men, is no longer a member of USA Swimming, making the court’s decision against a beneficial policy change so easy.
“The Panel concludes that since the athlete is not entitled to compete in the ‘elite event’ within the meaning of the USA Swimming policy, let alone compete in a WA competition, which occurs when registering with WA before a competition or establishing a performance that leads to a WAT claim as a WA world record, he is simply not entitled to engage with WAT competition eligibility in WAT competitions,” the Tribunal said.
“The political 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 spoke to “Good Morning America” and made it clear that the 2024 Olympics was top of mind.
“It’s been a goal of mine to swim in the Olympic Trials for a long time, and I would love to make it happen,” Thomas said.
Fortunately, common sense prevailed and women will have the opportunity to participate on the women’s swimming team and represent the United States in Paris.