A University of Kentucky swimmer who finished fifth in the NCAA Swimming Championships in the 200-yard freestyle with Lia Thomas claimed that many female athletes “disagree” with the development of women’s sports.
“The majority of us female athletes or women in general don’t agree with that, and they don’t agree with the development and how this is going and how it might end up in a few years,” Riley Gaines said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn .) During an interview on her Unmuted with Marsha podcast.
Gaines’ comments relate to NCAA rules that allow transgender women to compete in women’s sports, Fox News noted.
Thomas last month became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division 1 national championship in any sport when she placed first in the 500-yard freestyle race — a moment many conservatives have criticized as unfair.
During the podcast, Gaines described to Blackburn the emotions she felt upon realizing she was tied in the 200-yard freestyle with Thomas.
“I touched the wall and saw there was a five next to my name, indicating I finished fifth… I also looked up and saw the number five next to Lia’s name, and that’s when I realized we were tied ‘ Gaines said. “It was like a flood of emotions. I was very happy for the girls above me who accomplished the seemingly impossible by defeating Lia.”
She later said she felt offended by the NCAA when a trophy for fifth place was awarded only to Thomas and she was told her trophy would be mailed.
“I walked back [to get my trophy] and the NCAA official came up to me and said, ‘Hey, that was a great swim. We only have a trophy for fifth place’ which I get, I get how that works. But he said: “We have to give the trophy to Lia. Yours come in the mail. Well done.’
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“And so I don’t think they handled it right. But I don’t think they were prepared to deal with that kind of situation,” she added.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) introduced a bill earlier this week honoring Emma Weyant, who finished second to Thomas in last week’s 500-yard freestyle championship.
“Emma Weyant was the fastest woman in the 2022 NCAA Division I women’s 500-yard freestyle, but her first-place win was stolen by a mediocre man who failed in the men’s swim,” Boebert said in a statement at the Time.
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