The situation for Lia Thomas is becoming complicated once again! Last June, the transgender swimmer lost her legal battle against World Aquatics at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Her request was centered on competing in the female category at the Paris Olympics as the swimmer encountered restrictions on competing in the female category. Thus, her hopes of qualifying for the Olympics were dashed. But how, you may ask?

Lia’s appeal failed to overturn World Aquatics’ ruling that prohibits swimmers who have experienced “any part of male puberty” from competing in the female category. In fact, World Aquatics’ ruling came after noticing the swimmer’s performance against Emma Weyant in 2022. The 25-year-old overpowered the Olympic silver medalist in 2022 to win NCAA gold by 1.75 seconds against Emma! This raised a lot of eyebrows, and WA came up with the decision. Meanwhile, CAS’s ruling also joined the lineup last year.

And now, another blow has followed! On February 5, POTUS Donald Trump signed an executive order. The order is set to bar the participation of any transgender athletes in women’s sports. Additionally, the rules say that strict actions would be taken against the schools not adhering to the new policies.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump made the entire scenario even more dramatic. As reported by the New York Times, he said, “From now on, women’s sports will be only for women,” right before signing the order. Sports enthusiasts might also find a few more things interesting, connected with the executive order. Can you guess those? 

First, the executive order came out with the name, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” The second one is no less thought-provoking! Well, Trump signed the deal on ‘National Girls and Women in Sports Day.’ And if you look closely, the NCAA, the key body that takes the call on the participation policy in the domestic circuit, has been keeping a flexible ruling on the issue. A thorough discussion on it might take us to 2022 again. 

In 2022, the governing body of the NCAA updated the Transgender Student-Athlete Policy. As per the notifications, the updated policy falls on a similar page to the Olympic Movement. And what does the Olympic Movement say? It is all about keeping a flexible approach to “inclusion and non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex variations.” In fact, the International Olympic Committee’s policy has something paving the way for Lia Thomas to enter the Olympics. How?

The “Non-discrimination” section! Under it, the 3.1 clause says, “Eligibility criteria should be established and implemented fairly and in a manner that does not systematically exclude athletes from competitions based upon their gender identity, physical appearance and/or sex variations.” However, the executive order signed by POTUS doesn’t seem to align with the mentioned clause. 

So, will the executive order work as an instrument to pressure the IOC to bring a change to the Olympic Movement? Trump’s order, however, slipped a few words on that, terming IOC’s policies “an absolutely ridiculous subject,” as reported by ‘AP News.’ Also, following the Olympic Committee’s direction on the matter, the NCAA’s rulebook on the inclusion subject came to the receiving end. And what about Lia Thomas? The former NCAA champion will not be able to continue swimming in the female category in the NCAA after the order jumps into the scene. However, the swimmer has a few more issues to watch out for. 

Lia Thomas’ college records are in crisis 

On February 5, the Washington Times published a detailed report on Lia Thomas’ fresh problems. No, it wasn’t about Donald Trump’s executive order. Instead, it was about her collegiate records in swimming. On Wednesday, three former Penn State swimmers filed a lawsuit against several governing bodies. The argument was on allowing Lia Thomas to compete against women swimmers and share the locker room with other female swimmers in the 2021-22 season. Their argument is against the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, the Ivy League Council of Presidents, and the NCAA. 

The lawsuit was initiated by Grace Estabrook, Margot Kaczorowski, and Ellen Holmquist. These swimmers swam alongside Thomas during the 2021-22 season, and their petition claimed Lia Thomas’s participation in the contest violated Title IX. This federal law was set in place to avoid gender discrimination in educational institutions.

The lawsuit was filed on February 4 in the federal court, and a hearing has yet to take place. But you can expect a lot of things coming out of the hearing on the petition. And if Lia ends up on the losing end, then there is a very good chance that all her titles won in the 2021-2022 season will have to be forgone. This would include titles such as NCAA champion in 500 freestyle and first-team All-American honor for the same event, Ivy League Champion in the 100, 200, and 500 freestyle, to name a few. But the decision is yet to be made. Till then, keep an eye on this space.