NCAA strips Lia Thomas of titles, crowns Riley Gaines new champion amid ongoing debate over transgender athlete participation in collegiate sports

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Riley Gaines was relieved after transgender swimming athlete Lia Thomas lost a battle after rallying against the rules prohibiting biologically male athletes from competing in the women’s category at the Olympics. Gaines wished the governing body would strip all of Thomas’ titles.

Riley Gaines, 24, competed in the University of Kentucky swim team. Her college days were fun until she competed in the 200-yard NCAA freestyle championship in 2022. In the pool, she faced Lia Thomas, the transgender athlete from the University of Pennsylvania. Having tied for the fifth position with Thomas in that event, Riley Gaines was refused the podium by the former.

Since then, Gaines has been a firm protestor against the inclusion of biologically male athletes in women’s sports. She has rallied to protect the integrity of women by launching a legal case against the National Collegiate Athletic Association and voiced her despisedness for the unjust practice through several media appearances.

According to recent news, Lia Thomas filed suit against WA (World Athletics) for allowing her to participate in the upcoming Olympics. The rules said that any athlete who went through male puberty cannot be in contention with biological females.

In response to this, Riley Gaines heaved a sigh of relief and took to her X handle to plead NCAA to strip off her wins.

“Now the @ncaa needs to strip him of every award, title, and record he stole from a deserving female athlete.”

The decision was made by the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), who issued that Thomas was “simply not entitled to engage with eligibility to compete in WA competitions”. (via The New York Post)

“How many girls have to be exploited in their locker rooms?” – Riley Gaines in her Take Back Title IX tour

Title IX was brought into force to protect women’s rights in sports, barring transgender girls and non-binary athletes from competing with biological females. However, in 2021, the Biden administration proposed that new changes be implemented, which will ban discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

In protest, Riley Gaines joined several other athletes in the Take Back Title IX tour, an initiative to overturn the new rules of the Biden administration. The team took a stop at the Montana Longhorn Company to give a speech to a crowd of 100 and lay out their efforts.

“How many opportunities have to be lost? How many girls have to be exploited in their locker rooms? How many girls have to be injured in their sports?” Gaines questioned the crowd. (via Montana Sports)

She concluded her speech by asking the young girls to speak their truth and be bold. The team will continue their tour following the Montana stop.