Breathe
By Rosa Covarrubias
When Lia Thomas jumped into the pools in March 2022, controversy immediately erupted; for many, an exclusion issue, for others, a physical issue that is a clear advantage over rivals in any competition.
On March 17 of that year, Thomas became the first transgender woman to win a collegiate title in U.S. swimming. Criticism began to grow immediately, since when she competed in the men's division she was not among the top 100 in the country, but as a woman she set several records.
Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, was one of the main detractors "the NCAA is basically making efforts to destroy women's athletics, they are trying to undermine the integrity of the competition and they are crowning someone else as the women's champion and we think that's wrong."
Sports doctors have spoken out against trans women competing against biological women if the gender change is not made before the age of 16, it is common to hear and read phrases such as "the body has memory" or "even if they undergo hormone treatments they have a certain physical advantage".
Thomas underwent medical treatment and stopped competing for a little over a year, despite this, the criticism continued and the detractors of trans women in women's sports continued.
Worlds Aquatics did not reverse the decision made in 2022 about not admitting transgender athletes in the female branch if they had had "any stage of male puberty". Thomas went to CAS, which ruled against him in June 2024, and through a statement said "Thomas simply had no right to compromise on his eligibility to compete in Worlds Aquatics competitions.
One of Donald Trump's campaign promises was precisely that, to exclude transgender athletes from women's competitions. On Tuesday, January 15, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill banning trans women and girls from competing against athletes biologically designated at birth with the female gender, now, the Senate will have the ultimate decision.
The case of Lia Thomas in U.S. college sports also uncovered an issue that few dare to talk about, as sports is one of the most lucrative businesses in the world and in which universities in the United States invest and receive large amounts of money from the State, there are those who seek to achieve greater benefits with the change of gender.
It is curious that, while Lia Thomas was fighting against all her detractors, Laurel Hubbard had already competed in the Olympic Games and in a sport in which, being a transgender athlete, would be a physical advantage, we are talking about weightlifting; in the same Tokyo 2020 games, Canada integrated Quinn, the first non-binary transgender athlete in its soccer team, which won the gold medal.
It has been 3 and a half years since the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ended, more than three years in which the controversy over the inclusion of transgender women in women's sport continues to be put on the table, a period in which the International Federations and the International Olympic Committee have not taken that step forward to determine whether or not they can compete and under what circumstances they will be able to do so; there are voices in favor, but there are also many voices against.
Scientifically it has not yet been proven that there is a real advantage between a transgender woman, who has undergone treatments in which her strength and muscle mass decrease, and a woman designated with this gender at birth.
The decisions made in the coming months will be fundamental for the following Olympic cycles. There is still a lot of work to be done, many studies to be conducted and agreements to be reached.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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