'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYH/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAALfUxX//xAAeEAADAAAHAQAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMABAUGBxEhgf/aAAgBAQABPwDkDkmu2+Udu6RJQwuMuhQr2jpXMlK/VVFK4tdVtRereMR4Rj//xAAVEQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARAP/aAAgBAgEBPwAL/8QAFREBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEQD/2gAIAQMBAT8AW//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The participation of transgender athletes in women's sports and the Olympics has become a highly debated issue in recent years. Many athletes, including the former Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner, have voiced their opinions against the transgender athlete's participation in women's sports.
With the 2024 Olympics drawing near, the IOC gave the sports federations autonomy to independently establish rules for transgender athletes' participation in women's sports. A few federations, including the World Atheltics, World Rugby, International Cycling Union, and World Aquatics have prohibited the participation of trans athletes in women's sports.
On that note, let's take a look at the athletes who have expressed their resentment against the participation of trans athletes in women's sports.
Trending
#4 1996 Olympics gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner dissented the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports
Caitlyn Jenner, earlier known as William Bruce Jenner is a former Olympic gold medalist in decathlon event. Jenner secured a gold medal in the event at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
Jenner has persistently voiced her opinion against the participation of trans athletes in women's sports. The former Olympian recently backed New York County’s ban on girls' and women's sports teams that consist of transgender athletes from using the county’s public facilities.
According to NBC, Jenner stated,
"Trans women are competing against women, taking valuable opportunities for the long protected class under Title IX and causing physical harm."
In April 2015, Jenner came out as a trans woman after her divorce from Kris Kardashian and also after dealing with gender dysphoria from a young age.
#4 Santino Marella
The Canadian professional wrestler Santino Marella voiced his opinion against the transgender wrestler competing with a biological female. The wrestler, who impressed the world with his 11-year tenure with WWE voiced his dissent against transgender wrestlers, stating they should be prohibited from competing against women at all levels of competition, which also includes the Olympics.
"If you're a guy – born a guy – and you become a woman, you're accepted everywhere, but in the field of actual competitive sports, there has to be a barrier," he said in Wrestling World in 2019.
#2 Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova is a former Czech-American professional tennis player, who has secured 18 single Grand Slams. The former tennis player came out to the world as bisexual in 1981.
Navratilova has been a fierce dissenter of the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports at all levels, including the Olympics. She has consistently expressed her voice on the notion, describing trans athletes as "failed male athletes". According to Fox News, she showed her backing towards World Atheltics decision to prohibit trans athletes from competing against biological females by stating it as a "step in the right direction."
#1 Riley Gaines
Riley Gaines is a former NCAA swimmer, who has been the most active participant in dissenting the trans athletes for competing against women. Right from confronting Lia Thomas to encouraging biological female athletes to refrain from competing against trans athletes, she has persistently voiced her disapproval.
Gaines competed against Thomas, a trans swimmer who wanted to compete in the Olympics, in the 200-yard freestyle swimming at the 2022 NCAA Championships, where both of them tied for fifth place after clocking a time of 1:43.40. However, Thomas was the only swimmer who was awarded fifth place trophy and according to Gaines, she was asked to pose with the sixth place trophy, which she found unsettling.
