Olympic Bid in Major Ruling on Women’s Sports
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas will not compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris after losing a high-profile legal challenge against World Aquatics.
Thomas, who made headlines in 2022 as the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I women’s swimming championship, had petitioned to overturn a rule banning athletes who have undergone “any part of male puberty” from competing in women’s events. But the court upheld the policy, effectively ending Thomas’s Olympic hopes.
The 25-year-old’s challenge was deemed “invalid and unlawful” by the court, reinforcing the policy World Aquatics put in place in 2022 to protect the integrity of women’s competition.
In a statement, World Aquatics called the ruling “a major step forward in our efforts to protect women’s sport,” while also reaffirming its stance on inclusivity.
“World Aquatics is committed to creating an environment that promotes equality, respect, and equal opportunities for athletes of all genders,” the organization said, according to The Guardian.
Notably, World Aquatics has not barred transgender athletes entirely. The governing body introduced an “open” category in 2023, debuting at the World Cup in Berlin. However, the category did not attract any participants.
Lia Thomas Olympic Dreams Officially Over After Legal Defeat — Victory for Women’s Sports
Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who made headlines after winning an NCAA title against biological women, will not be competing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Thomas stood beside former NCAA swimmer and vocal women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines during that controversial win — a moment that sparked ongoing national debate.
Once a middling competitor in men’s swimming, Thomas transitioned and rose to national prominence after switching to the women’s division. However, her legal challenge against World Aquatics’ eligibility policy has now officially failed.
The international swimming body, World Aquatics (WA), banned transgender athletes who experienced “any part of male puberty” from competing in the women’s category in 2022. Thomas argued the rule was “invalid and unlawful,” but the court ruled firmly against her.
According to WA’s media office, the panel found Thomas ineligible under both USA Swimming and World Aquatics policies. “The panel concludes that the athlete is simply ineligible to compete in WA events… The current situation simply does not meet the political and operational requirements,” the statement read.
Adding to the finality of the decision, Thomas is no longer a member of USA Swimming, which made the court’s rejection of her appeal even more straightforward.
Thomas had once publicly expressed her hopes to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. In a 2022 interview with Good Morning America, she said: “It has been my goal for a long time to swim in the Olympic qualifying competitions and I would love to see it happen.”
But with the U.S. Olympic trials set to kick off on June 15 in Indianapolis — hosted for the first time ever on a football field inside Lucas Oil Stadium — it is now clear that Thomas will not be in the lanes.
World Aquatics reaffirmed its commitment to fairness in women’s sports while still promoting inclusion, having introduced an “open” category for transgender swimmers — though no athletes have yet participated.
In what many are calling a victory for common sense, the ruling clears the path for biological women to compete on a level playing field for a spot on Team USA in Paris.
