Lia Thomas

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FILE - University of Pennsylvania athlete Lia Thomas prepares for the 500 meter freestyle event at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas failed in her challenge against rules that stop her competing in elite women’s races because judges ruled she did not have standing to bring the case. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Wednesday, June 12, 2024, its panel of three judges dismissed Thomas’ request for arbitration with the World Aquatics governing body. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

Transgender Lia Thomas fails in challenge to rules that bar her from elite women’s races

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas waits for results after swimming the women's 200 freestyle final at the NCAA swimming and diving championships, Friday, March 18, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has asked a Swiss sports court to overturn rules imposed by the World Aquatics governing body which stop her competing in elite women’s races. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday, Jan. 26, 2024 it has registered Thomas’ request but no date for a hearing was decided. Confidentiality around a case begun in September was lifted after it was reported in British media. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) **FILE**

Republicans seek to block male-born athletes from competing in women’s Olympic sports

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas waits for results after swimming the women's 200 freestyle final at the NCAA swimming and diving championships, Friday, March 18, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has asked a Swiss sports court to overturn rules imposed by the World Aquatics governing body which stop her competing in elite women’s races. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday, Jan. 26, 2024 it has registered Thomas’ request but no date for a hearing was decided. Confidentiality around a case begun in September was lifted after it was reported in British media. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) **FILE**

Lia Thomas spurs Olympics chatter with challenge to World Aquatics transgender policy

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines speaks at a news conference about transgender inclusion in sports at the North Carolina Legislative Building, Wednesday, April 19, 2023, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum) ** FILE **

Riley Gaines credits faith, family for courage to speak out on transgender athletes

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Meghan Cortez-Fields, a senior at Ramapo College of New Jersey in Mahwah, broke a program record in the 100-yard butterfly at the Cougar Splash Invitational in Dallas, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 18, 2023. (Photo courtesy Ramapo College Athletics.)

Lia Thomas deja vu? Trans swimmer Meghan Cortez-Fields ignites outrage after breaking women’s record

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines speaks at a news conference about transgender inclusion in sports at the North Carolina Legislative Building, Wednesday, April 19, 2023, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum) ** FILE **

Riley Gaines rips Keith Olbermann for saying she lost because ‘you sucked’

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Riley Gaines, a college swim champion and women's advocate, shares what it was like to wait for someone to stand up for her and other women athletes when Lia Thomas, a man who identifies as a woman, began competing on her women's swim team and changing in the women's locker room. When that help didn't come, she decided to speak out against "the betrayal" and share the trauma she and others experienced.

‘I’ve seen clearly how God works’: Riley Gaines describes how her faith has sustained her

James Adede, of Kenya, gets a grip on the barbell before attempting a lift in the men's 94 kg weightlifting competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Mike Groll) **FILE**

Transgender powerlifter Anne Andres stokes backlash by breaking women’s records

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, second from right, stands during a rally on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, outside of the NCAA Convention in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate **FILE**

Riley Gaines enlists CPAC in the fight against male-born athletes in women’s sports

By Susan Ferrechio - The Washington Times

University of Pennsylvania athlete Lia Thomas prepares for the 500 meter freestyle at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. World swimming’s governing body has adopted new rules for transgender athletes, only permitting swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. FINA members voted 71.5% in favor of the new “gender inclusion policy” at the organization’s extraordinary general congress on Sunday, June 19, 2022. Thomas made history in the United States as the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Riley Gaines: Lia Thomas’ NCAA Woman of the Year nomination ‘insulting’ to female athletes

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas swims in the first leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay at the Ivy League women's swimming and diving championships at Harvard, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)

UPenn nominates Lia Thomas as 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas waits for a preliminary heat in the Women's NCAA 500-yard freestyle swimming championship, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File) **FILE**

International swimming ban muddies future for transgender athletes

By Paul Newberry - Associated Press

Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas swims in the first leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay at the Ivy League women's swimming and diving championships at Harvard, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)

International swimming bans post-pubescent males from women’s swimming

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas competes in the 200 freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships Friday, March 18, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Lia Thomas: Losing out to a transgender athlete is ‘no different’ than losing to a female

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines tied for fifth in the 200-yard freestyle with University of Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas at the NCAA Division I women's swimming championships on March 18, 2022. Photo courtesy Riley Gaines.

Kentucky’s Riley Gaines makes splash by blasting ‘unfair’ rules after swimming against Lia Thomas

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Emma Weyant, of United States, poses with her silver medal on the podium for the women's 400-meter Individual medley at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) ** FILE **

Mike Pence declares ‘Emma Weyant won that race,’ not Lia Thomas

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

University of Pennsylvania transgender athlete Lia Thomas holds her trophy after finishing tied for fifth the 200 freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships Friday, March 18, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Thomas finished tied for fifth place. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Coaches add All-America honors for women swimmers bumped by Lia Thomas

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

In this March 12, 2020, file photo, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine provides an update on the coronavirus known as COVID-19 in Harrisburg, Pa. President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Levine to be his assistant secretary of health, leaving her poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. (Joe Hermitt/The Patriot-News via AP, File)

Lia Thomas and Rachel Levine are men

By Michael McKenna

Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas prepares to swim the women's 500-yard freestyle final at the NCAA swimming and diving championships Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Thomas, who won, is the first known transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship.. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

NBC News runs professor’s column comparing Lia Thomas to Jackie Robinson

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times

Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas gestures as she holds the trophy after winning the 500-meter freestyle at the NCAA swimming and diving championships Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Thomas is the first known transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) **FILE**

Virginia Tech swimmer bumped from finals chastises NCAA over transgender policy

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times