I don’t want trans athletes excluded but Lia Thomas has proven we must have fair competition for females – bodies do sport, not feelings… No rules can reverse the advantage of male puberty.
- When Lia Thomas competed as a man she was outside the top 500 of the NCAA
- Having transitioned, she has become the No 1 swimmer in the women’s category
- But despite testosterone-suppression she still has biological advantages
- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) have abdicated responsibility and left it up to individual ruling bodies to do all the work
The atmosphere when a trans swimmer controversially triumphed at the United States college championships last week was uncomfortable at best and I am amazed the sporting authorities did not act sooner to prevent it.
It has been obvious for several years that the rules around transgender participation in sport were unfair to biological females and promised to create the kind of mess that we have seen in the Atlanta pool.
When Lia Thomas competed as a man before her transition two years ago, she was an average swimmer at university level, outside the top 500 for the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
