Olympic medalist Sharron Davies claimed “hundreds of men are stealing from women in sport” after a trans cyclist won a bronze medal in a race in the United States.
Davies has been a voice against transgender athletes competing in women’s events.
The former swimmer was reacting to a social media post that said transgender cyclist Catherine Barnwell had won bronze after finishing third in the Brumble Kermesse Road Race in Rhode Island on Monday.
One photo showed Barnwell next to the winner and runner-up of the race in the United States.
Davies attacked the “disgusting sexism” in allowing transgender athletes to compete, claiming “places and awards” are being stolen from women.
Sharron Davies has claimed that “hundreds of men are stealing from women in sport” after a trans cyclist won a bronze medal in a race in the United States.
Davies was reacting to a post that said transgender cyclist Catherine Barnwell (right) won a bronze medal in a women’s race on Monday.
The Olympic medalist affirmed that they are stealing “awards and prizes” from the athletes
Davies wrote: ‘And again… Hundreds, if not thousands, of men are stealing very special places, awards, prizes, podiums, titles, scholarships and opportunities to develop character, even their dreams, from women in the sport all over the western world every damn day!
“It’s disgusting sexism.”
The former swimmer who won silver in the 400m medley at the 1980 Moscow Olympics previously reacted to an image of trans athlete Cece Telfer taking part in a women’s hurdles race.
Telfer, who previously competed as a man, became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) title in 2019 and ran the women’s invitational 60-meter hurdles in Boston in February.
The sprinter had qualified for the final of the event, finishing fifth in the preliminary races, but would reportedly disqualify herself during the deciding race.
Davies wrote on X (formerly Twitter): ‘Discover the male athlete in the women’s race! It’s just cheating.’
A video was also posted of the 6-foot-2 Telfer preparing for the race, and the sprinter is seen jumping up and down and loosening her joints on the starting blocks.
Davies also attacked a transgender athlete competing in a women’s 60m hurdles event.
Images of trans athlete Cece Telfer participating in a women’s event were published online
Davies wrote on X (formerly Twitter): ‘Discover the male athlete in the women’s race! It’s just cheating.’
Davies has previously faced backlash from transgender activists who reportedly attacked her children’s school after she spoke out against the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports.
The 61-year-old, who has attended 12 Olympic Games as a competitor and broadcaster, backed the decision to prevent transgender cyclist Emily Bridges from competing against female cyclists. Bridges had been at the center of a debate following her attempts to cycle against female athletes last year.
Speaking to LBC, Davies said: “I don’t think Emily Bridges should be allowed to compete with women. “I think she should be allowed to compete, absolutely, and it’s very important that we make all sports inclusive.
‘However, having a women’s category and an open category allows everyone to play sports fairly. What kind of message are we sending to young girls if we tell them that men are worthy of a fair sport, but that women are not worthy of a fair sport? What kind of message is that to any aspiring young athlete?
The issue of transgender participation in women’s sports has generated much debate in recent years.
Tennis great Martina Navratilova and two-time Olympic gold medalist Daley Thompson are among former athletes who have raised concerns about the debate.
Various governing bodies have introduced policies regarding the participation of transgender athletes in recent years.
Last year, World Athletics voted to ban transgender women from competing in international women’s sporting events.
Telfer previously became the first openly trans athlete to win an NCAA title in 2019.
Telfer had competed as part of the Franklin Pierce University men’s track and field teams from 2016-17.
The decision was made to “prioritize the fairness and integrity of women’s competition over inclusivity.” The new rules state that transgender athletes are only eligible to compete in women’s disciplines if they “have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 or before age 12, whichever is later.”
World Aquatics changed its policies in 2022 so that transgender women can only compete in women’s races if they have completed their transition before age 12.
Its rules also required swimmers to prove to the federation that they have continually suppressed their testosterone levels since then.
To accommodate transgender athletes, World Aquatics created an ‘open category’ for transgender athletes to compete against each other in events.
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has tried to challenge those rules at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a bid to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The debate over transgender athletes’ participation in elite sports intensified when Thomas became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history in 2022.
Why British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies (who competed against East German drug cheats) is arguing AGAINST trans inclusion in women’s sports
Davies claims his father Terry was punished because he refused to be silenced for doping
Between 1975 and 1985, Davies missed out on a series of medals when the East German Swimming Federation encouraged its swimming rivals to take drugs containing male sex hormones, causing thousands of people to suffer organ damage or psychological trauma as a result. .
Davies says there are parallels with East German doping and transgender athletes taking hormone-suppressing drugs in their quest to win medals in women’s categories. The issue hit the mainstream when trans swimmer LiaThomas defeated the women’s competition and broke numerous records at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships in Atlanta.
Bridges, who came out as a transgender woman in October 2020, made headlines in March when she was banned from competing against Olympic hero Dame Laura Kenny in the British National Omnium Championships at 11am by world governing body UCI.
In May 2019, Davies, Dame Kelly Holmes, Paula Radcliffe and 60 top athletes wrote to Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), expressing concern about the inclusion of male athletes in women’s competitions.
Speaking earlier to Sportsmail, Davies said: “No-one wants to ban people from playing sport.” It’s not that I don’t have empathy for anyone who is transgender. It must be incredibly difficult. We only ask that people be excluded from categories to which they do not belong. They only have to compete where their biology fits the category.
‘We wouldn’t think it would be right to include a 15-year-old in the under-ten race. We wouldn’t think it was okay to put a heavyweight boxer next to a bantamweight. That’s why the women’s category was invented in the first place. It’s to give women a chance to win, otherwise we wouldn’t win anything.
‘Whatever your expression or sexuality, sport is there for you. It just has to be fair. And justice must come before inclusion.”
In 2022, the NCAA implemented a new transgender participation policy that is aligned with those established by the International Olympic Committee. Under rules implemented in 2022, transgender athletes had to have undergone a year of testosterone suppression treatment in order to compete.
The rules have since been updated for the 2023-24 season, and athletes must meet the previous criteria and must now meet the sporting standard for documented testosterone levels prior to the season, prior to the first competition in an event. the NCAA and before any competition in the non-championship segment.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Games, but failed to lift weight in the women’s 87kg+ weightlifting event.