Caitlyn Jenner says Lia Thomas should not be the winner of the NCAA championship competition.
Caitlyn Jenner, a former Olympic decathlete and gold medal-winner, declared that transgender swimmer Lia Thomas was not the rightful winner of the women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships, she instead named second-place Emma Weyant as the true victor.
She said: “Thomas’ is playing within the rules. What I’ve said from the beginning (are) the rules aren’t tough enough. Lia Thomas just dominated in the pool, and I’m sure she took it quite easily because she did not want to win by too much.”
“I think she was probably taking it very easy in the race because she knew the world was watching, and she’s just going to go fast enough to be able to win the race,” she added.
Jenner won the gold medal in the men’s decathlon in the 1976 Olympics as Bruce Jenner. She transitioned from a man to a woman in 2015. She explained: “Lia Thomas is also not good for women’s sports. It’s unfortunate that this is happening, I don’t know why she’s doing it.”
“She knows when she’s swimming she’s beating the competition by two laps. She was born as a biological boy, she was raised as a biological boy. Her cardiovascular system is bigger. Her respiratory system is bigger. Her hands are bigger. She can swim faster. That’s known.”
“All of this is woke world that we’re living in right now is not working. I feel sorry for the other athletes that are out there, especially at Penn or anyone she’s competing against, because in the woke world you have to say, “Oh my gosh, this is great,” No, it’s not,” she added.
Jenner has sided with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis about transgender swimmer Thomas. De Santis wrote on Twitter: “By allowing men to compete in women’s sports, the NCAA is destroying opportunities for women.”
“Making a mockery of its championships, and perpetuating a fraud. In Florida, we reject these lies and recognize Sarasota’s Emma Weyant as the best women’s swimmer in the 500y freestyle,” he added.
Jenner tweeted: “@GovRonDeSantis agreed! She is the rightful winner! It’s not transphobic or anti-trans, it’s common sense.”
Thomas is the first trans woman to win an NCAA championship, the highest honor a collegiate athlete can receive. Trans rights are a polarising topic in the United States and Thomas received a mixture of cheers and boos while accepting her win.
She swam for the University of Pennsylvania’s men’s team before starting hormone replacement therapy in 2019. The belief of Thomas’ critics is that she will have an advantage over her opponents, Jenner then said she’d like to engage in a dialogue with Thomas over the issue.
Thomas is hoping she can inspire other trans athletes and trans kids with her story and believes representation is important. She became the first transgender athlete to win a championship in any sport when she beat Virginia freshman Emma Weyant by 1.75 seconds in the final.
The University of Pennsylvania student achieved a season-best time of 4:33:24 but her win caused controversy, with critics claiming it was not fair for her to compete against biological females.