Former U.S. Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson said in a recent interview that despite being a lifelong Democrat, Donald Trump's stance on protecting women and girls in sports makes her excited about becoming president-elect. He admitted that he did.
Trump's pledge to end transgender participation in women's sports was a key issue in his campaign. Pro-Trump campaign ads during the election depicted Vice President Kamala Harris as if transgender women were in a corner competing with biological women. President Trump even went so far as to say that transgender inclusion in women's sports policy is “too far away.”
At that point, Thompson realized she was supporting him.
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Inga Thompson trains for the World Cycling Championship Women's Road Race in Colorado Springs, Colorado, September 1986. (David Madison/Getty Images)
“I don't want my boyfriend to hear about this because we're both Democrats. I'm from Reno, Nevada, around the casinos, and I hated President Trump,” she said. telegraph paper. “I grew up with a lot of people in the gaming industry, and we hated President Trump. I knew people who did business with him, and then he backed out. I was making fun of him when he first ran for office.''
“My position this time is, 'If he's going to protect women, I'm going to vote for him.'” This is the biggest threat to women I can think of in my generation, and I'm voting for women. I have to. ”
Thompson is one of the former athletes who led the movement to ban biological males from women's sports. These comments led to her losing her position as cycling team director after calling on cyclists to protest the International Cycling Union's (UCI) transgender athlete policy in 2023.
Thompson told the newspaper that she is angry at Democrats who support transgender participation in women's sports.
“Didn't they learn a lesson at the Olympics about how tone-deaf they are and how blind they are to what they're doing to women?” she said. “I'm a Democrat too, so I'm angry that the party continues to throw women under the bus. It would have been easy for them to allow common sense to return. But they won't. This is the last It's straw.'' ”
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Jeannie Longo of France, Valérie Simonet of France and Inga Thompson of the United States celebrate on the podium after the Vail Criterium stage of the Coors International Bicycle Classic on August 11, 1985 in Vail, Colorado. (David Madison/Getty Images)
Thompson said he doesn't think this is a “right-wing, Republican issue.” She said all she and Democrats want is “balance.”
“None of us are extremists, just common sense people. Since their response to the Women in Sports Protection Act, they have lost me forever. They realize that the party has lost its plot. This is the time,” she added.
Thompson is not the only Democrat to oppose specific policies. A New York Times/Ipsos poll released over the weekend also found that a majority of Democrats don't think transgender athletes should be allowed to participate in women's sports.
“I think about transgender female athletes, athletes who were born male but now identify as female, and I think they should be allowed to participate in women's sports. Or do you think they shouldn't?'' the survey asked.
Of the 2,128 participants, 79% said biological males who identify as female should not be allowed to participate in women's sports.
Of the 1,025 people who said they were a Democrat or Democratic-leaning, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete against women.
Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Some of that was on display earlier this month, when two Democrats joined Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote in favor of a bill that would ban male-born athletes from participating in girls' school sports teams.
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The Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act, sponsored by Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube, would amend federal law to require student-athletes to participate on the school sports team that matches their sex at birth. It is planned to stipulate that
The bill will now be sent to the Senate.
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