Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has lost a legal battle to overturn a ban on biological men competing against women in a bid to compete in the Paris Olympics.
Thomas, 25, first rose to prominence after becoming the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA college title in 2022.
Thomas has been banned from competing against biological women in international events since 2022, after the sport’s governing body changed its regulations.
World Aquatics changed its policies so that transgender women can only compete in women’s races if they have completed their transition before the age of 12.
According The GuardianThomas argued that those rules should be declared “invalid and illegal, and violated the Olympic charter and the world aquatics convention.”
In a decision handed down at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, they concluded that Thomas had “no right to commit to eligibility to compete in WA competitions”.
Thomas, 25, first rose to prominence after becoming the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA college title in 2022.
World Aquatics welcomes the news and calls it a “major step forward in our efforts to protect women’s sport.”
