Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas will not take her chance as an athlete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Thomas, the biological male who won the 2022 women’s national championship as a swimmer for Penn, has officially lost a legal battle against World 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 all swimmers who had gone through “any part of male puberty” from competing against biological women.
World Aquatics welcomed the court’s decision to uphold the rule keeping Thomas out of the women’s pool, calling it “a major step forward in our efforts to protect women’s sport.”
“World Aquatics is committed to creating an environment that promotes equality, respect and equal opportunities for athletes of all genders, and we reaffirm this commitment,” the organization said, according to The Guardian .
It’s worth noting that World Aquatics has not banned transgender athletes from competitions. The organization has introduced an “open” category for transgender swimmers. The new category debuted at last year’s World Cup in Berlin, but failed to attract a single competitor.
Lia Thomas stands next to Outkick’s Riley Gaines after winning an NCAA title against biological women. (Photo: Rich Von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Thomas, who was an average swimmer at best when she competed against the men, is no longer a member of USA Swimming, which makes the court’s decision against a policy change in her favor so easy.
“The panel concludes that the athlete is simply ineligible to compete in WA events because, under US Swimming policy, he is ineligible to compete in an ‘elite event,’ let alone a WA event. This occurs when he registers with WA prior to a competition or performs a performance that results in a claim for registration as a WA world record,” the court said, according to the WA media office.
“The current situation simply does not meet the political and operational requirements.”
The US Olympic Qualifying Games begin on June 15 in Indianapolis and will be played for the first time on a football field at Lucas Oil Stadium.
In 2022, when ESPN and ABC honored Thomas as part of Women’s History Month, Thomas sat down with “Good Morning America” and made it clear that she was thinking about the 2024 Olympics.
“It has been my goal for a long time to swim in the Olympic qualifying competitions and I would love to see it happen,” said Thomas.
Fortunately, common sense prevailed, and women were given the opportunity to compete on the women’s swim team and represent the United States in Paris.
