Iconic athletes oppose letting transgender swimmer Lia Thomas compete against women

Lia Thomas has broken two national women's swimming records, three school records and in one competition even won by 38 seconds.

By Madeleine Hubbard

Iconic athletes in women's sports are speaking out against the National Collegiate Athletic Association's decision to allow transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male, to compete against women.

Olympic gold medal swimmer Nancy Hogshead-Makar wrote an opinion piece for the Daily Mail titled, "It was not fair when I raced against doped-up East Germans, and it is not fair for women to compete against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas; here's why."

Hogshead-Makar's article received positive reviews from tennis stars Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert and fellow Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies.

Hogshead-Makar wrote how evidence shows Thomas's testosterone suppression treatment was insufficient "to level the playing field" with female swimmers. As a male, Thomas competed for years and never stood out, but now, Thomas crushes women in races.

The Olympian states that this move takes opportunities away from women and girls. She used the analogy that allowing biological males to compete against females would be like "allowing adults to compete against children."

"A well reasoned and fair take on trans women inclusion in women’s sports," Navratilova tweeted, including a link to the article.

Evert retweeted Naratilova's statement, including the caption "I second that."

In a later tweet Sunday, Evert wrote, "Science has proved from the onset of male puberty, mainly because of high testosterone levels, male bodies are faster, stronger, and have more endurance than female bodies."

Gold medalist Davies also tweeted a link to Hogshead-Makar's article.

Two-time men's Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson also tweeted his belief in biological sex on Christmas.

Earlier this month, USA Swimming referee Cynthia Millen resigned after three decades in protest of the decision to allow Thomas to swim against women.

Thomas has broken two national women's swimming records and three school records. And in one competition, she won by 38 seconds.