Controversial transgender swimmer Leah Thomas is secretly filing a lawsuit to overturn a ban on biological males competing with females, and will not participate in the Paris Olympics trial, according to reports He says he hopes to.
After becoming the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title, Thomas, 24, asked the Swiss Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the rules imposed by World Swimming in Canada. We asked the law firm Tia. The Telegraph reported.
She has not competed since 2022, when World Swimming introduced a rule banning anyone who has experienced “parts of male puberty” from competing in the women's category.
Previously, trans women were allowed to compete as long as they had reduced testosterone levels.
Tyle described the staffer as a “fearless advocate” who had been involved in “high-stakes, precedent-setting cases”, but the newspaper said cases brought to CAS were not made by the people involved. Unless a person agrees to make the case public, the hearing is held behind closed doors and is controversial.
When Thomas took up the case in court in September, World Aquatics applied to have it thrown out on the grounds that she had not submitted to USA Swimming's jurisdiction, the Telegraph reported.
A month before Thomas won the NCAA championship in March 2022, USA Swimming imposed stricter regulations on transgender people, stopping short of an outright ban, but requiring regular monitoring of these athletes' testosterone levels. Obliged.
Less than a month before World Aquatics introduced its own policy in June 2022, she said: “It has long been a goal of mine to swim in the Olympic trials. I would love to go through with it. “I will,” he told “Good Morning America.”
The paper said Thomas' case is unlikely to be heard in time for her to qualify for this summer's Olympics.
The deadline to join the trial is June 4, but the case needs to be won several weeks in advance to have a chance to file in May, enough to join the trial, which begins June 15. the times of london report.
World Aquatics declined to comment on Thomas' legal challenge.
Its executive director Brent Nowicki said in a statement to the Telegraph: “World Aquatics’ policy on gender inclusion, adopted by World Aquatics in June 2022, has been developed strictly based on advice from leading medical and legal experts and is In-depth consultation.
“World Aquatics believes its gender inclusion policy is a fair approach and remains absolutely determined to protect women's sport,” he added.
It is unclear when Thomas changed from male to female, but the swimmer was competing as a male in November 2019.
She has always denied transitioning to succeed.
“I think the biggest misconception is why I transitioned,” she said in 2022. She said, “People will say, 'Oh, she just transitioned to her advantage and she would win.'” I made the transition to be happy and to be true to myself. ”
