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Riley Gaines recently reacted to the University of Pennsylvania restoring the titles to female swimmers who lost to transgender athlete Lia Thomas. The university administration has agreed to revoke all the titles won by Thomas, including the NCAA championship gold medal and three Ivy League gold medals.
According to multiple media reports, the US Department of Education recently announced that the University of Pennsylvania has agreed to comply with the Title IX provisions, which were restored by the US government in early 2025. This meant that transgender athletes would no longer be allowed to represent the institution in women's sports, and all of their previous victories would be revoked as well.
Gaines responded to the situation by posting her thoughts on her X account. The swimmer-turned-social activist wrote:
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"UPenn has agreed to right its wrongs, restore records to the rightful female athletes, and issue an apology to the women impacted by the man they allowed to compete as a woman. Are pigs flying? God bless @realDonaldTrump"
Riley Gaines represented the University of Kentucky for four years during her collegiate career. She was tied for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle race with Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Swimming Championships. However, Thomas was prioritized over her, so Gaines decided to quit her career as a swimmer to fight for women's sports and the exclusion of transgender athletes from them.
When Riley Gaines felt bad for Simone Biles 'getting dragged' over her stance
![Riley Gaines shares thoughts about Simone Biles being 'dragged' on TikTok for her stance on trans athletes [Image Source: Getty]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/07/1f92a-17514243380797-1920.jpg)
Riley Gaines had previously opened up about the backlash faced by Olympic champion gymnast Simone Biles over the statement she made against her. Gaines revealed that she felt bad for the gymnastics legend, who was criticized on TikTok despite issuing an apology to Gaines over her statements.
Gaines shared some of those reactions on her X account, writing in the caption:
"In case you were wondering, Simone Biles is still getting dragged on TikTok. I almost feel bad for her."
For the unversed, Biles had been involved in an altercation with Gaines over her stance on the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports a couple of weeks ago. However, it generated massive backlash from many people, to the extent that Biles had to deactivate her X account.
Gaines reacted to Biles' deactivating her X account as she posted on X:
"- has an incredibly unpopular and morally indefensible take - gets rightfully ridiculed for it - issues a groveling public apology after unrelenting backlash - deletes account to pretend it never happened. Sad to see such a phenom go down like this."
Riley Gaines had previously called out San Jose State University's athletic director over the bias shown towards the transgender athlete Blaire Fleming. According to multiple media reports, the legal firm employed to investigate an assault allegedly carried out by Fleming was the same firm that represented the athlete over the controversy surrounding her gender identity.
