Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has lost an appeal against World Aquatics, ruling her out of competing at the Paris Olympics.
The sport’s governing body banned almost all transgender women from competing at an elite level in 2022.
Lia Thomas sought to overturn the ban on some transgender swimmers in time for this month’s U.S. Olympic Team swimming trials.
However, she lost the appeal after the international body that settles sporting disputes, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), voted to uphold World Aquatics’ ban on trans women.
Background
Lia Thomas is an American competitive swimmer who became the first transgender woman to win a U.S. college title, sparking international attention in March 2022.
Three months later, World Aquatics ruled that only transgender swimmers who transitioned before the age of 12, or before a particular phase of puberty, could compete in women’s events.
Thomas filed an appeal in January, arguing the ban was discriminatory.
Decision
This week, CAS blocked Thomas’ appeal. The decision reportedly hinged on a USA Swimming policy, introduced in 2022.
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The national swimming body’s policy required transgender women to meet specific requirements to compete at a professional level within the U.S. This includes its national Olympic trials.
Further, in its decision to block Thomas’ appeal, CAS stated the swimmer was “simply not [eligible] to compete,” based on this policy.
Response
In a statement from her legal team, Thomas described the ruling as “deeply disappointing”.
is an LGBTQIA+ sports advocacy group. It said CAS has denied Thomas “an effective remedy for acts that violate her human rights.”
Open category
World Aquaticsan “open category” for gender-diverse athletes at the 2023 World Cup in Berlin. This was a year after announcing the ban on most trans women swimmers
However, the event received no entries and the category was scrapped.
World Aquatics said it would continue working with the “aquatics community on Open Category events” and said it was looking into including open categories at future events for competitors aged over 25.
