WASHINGTON (TND) — Caitlyn Jenner slammed transgender female swimmer Lia Thomas for using her platform to become a “narcissist” while speaking on Riley Gaines’s “Gaines for Girls” podcast Wednesday.
Thomas has been quietly fighting to overturn a ban preventing transgender women from competing against biological ones, a battle that could result in allowing her to participate in the 2024 Olympic Trials. Gaines competed against and tied with Thomas in college, and has since become an outspoken advocate for women’s sports.
“Well, for the last six, nine months, I really haven’t heard much about her ever since the Olympic Committee came out and basically said, ‘you’re not eligible,’” Jenner said. “Now she’s trying to fight that, and I think she’s doing it for the publicity. I don’t know any other reason why she should, I mean, why she would.”
Jenner, also a transgender female, accused Thomas of using the legal battle for attention.
“Lia Thomas coming back, honestly, I think she’s a narcissist. I think she just wants the publicity,” Jenner said. “I think she was virtually a nobody.”
An Olympic bid, Jenner said, could fuel Thomas’s fame and popularity to new heights.
Jenner’s remarks come as allowing athletes to compete based on gender identity continues to be a controversial topic in sports. Nine Republican governors in October demanded the NCAA re-evaluate its transgender inclusion policy, citing Gaines as a major victim of the policy.
The governors also pointed to Allyson Felix, a dominant Olympic track runner whose running times would place her in the same competitions as high schoolers if she competed against biological males.