Riley Gaines lauds female player Kim O'Brien who refused to compete against a transgender billiards player Harriet Haynes, offers prize money

Riley Gaines has come out in support of Kim O'Brien, who forfeited the women's final at the European Pool Championships because she was to compete against Harriet Haynes, a transgender billiards player.

This comes after Lynne Pinches, one of Britain's top female pool players, turned down a professional contract last month, saying transgender women have an unfair competitive advantage.

Gaines, a former competitive swimmer, took to X (formerly Twitter) to highlight O'Brien forfeiting the final and said she would pay the prize money that the female player lost out on. Lauding O'Brien, Gaines stated:

"Absolutely incredible."

Gaines, who is vocal against transgender athletes participating in women's sports, said:

"I am happily paying her the prize money she lost out on. Stop playing their game. More of this!!!"

Gaines told Outkick that it was the same people in the finals in 2023 at the same European tournament. She said Haynes beat O'Brien, who won the ladies singles crown three times in 2001, 2010 and 2019, 7-1. Gaines added:

"I'd been following along since I heard about him last year. At this tournament there were two males that were playing, meaning there were two men playing in the women's elite pro section where only 32 athletes are offered spots."

"No one wants to watch men competing in women's sports": Riley Gaines

Riley Gaines says no one likes to see men competing in women's sports.

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer, believes no one wants to watch a bunch of men competing in women's sports.

Gaines also highlighted that:

"In sports, money talks. If ratings decline and interest dries up with males winning female competitions, sporting organizations will be forced to rethink their rules and regulations." (Outkick)

She pointed out that this has outraged the public while reiterating the need to incentivize. She said:

"I'd publicly stated before that we need to incentivize not participating in the farce, in the madness of it. It's what I hear from athletes all the time, they don't want to lose sponsorship, they don't want to lose income."

Gaines, 23, understands that their jobs and livelihoods depend on it. The former All-American swimmer said:

"How can we incentivize people for not playing? And that's by awarding them what they would be awarded."

She shared that people like Sage Steele, Megyn Kelly and Seth Dillon have joined in her efforts to compensate women sports persons affected by transgender athletes taking over their respective sports.