British Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Sharron Davies is calling for other sports to emulate the example set by swimming’s governing body by banning transgender female athletes from competing as women.
Swimming’s governing body, Fina ruled last weekend that transgender athletes may not compete as women unless they transitioned at or before age 12 and before they experienced male puberty.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of my sport, FINA and the FINA president for doing the science, asking the athletes/coaches and standing up for fair sport for females,”Davies tweets Sunday.
“Swimming will always welcome everyone no matter how you identify but fairness is the cornerstone of sport,”She concluded.
I can’t tell you how proud I am of my sport @fina & @fina_presidentFor doing science and asking coaches/athletes questions. Swimming will always welcome everyone no matter how you identify but fairness is the cornerstone of sport https://t.co/1IaMkIFOkX
— Sharron Davies MBE (@sharrond62) June 19, 2022
Davies stated in a tweet that she had earlier stressed the importance of “Females are not men with less testosterone. Compete with your sex.”
Olympian at 59 who was awarded gold in 1980 Games, is a strong critic of transgender athletes competing with natural-born females.
Davies was a fan of Fina’s initiative, but was unhappy with Union Cycliste Internationale’s new rules.
Davies blasted cycling’s leading authority for its newest rule that lengthens the amount of time a trans cyclist must take to lower testosterone from 12 months to 24 months. Davies believes the rule is insufficient to prevent trans athletes from competing and has called it “insufficient”. “disgraceful.”
“I think what cycling has done is disgraceful. They have basically said they are happy for female athletes to compete with a disadvantage. I’m afraid that is not acceptable in a world where we don’t believe in sex discrimination,”Davies stated that according to Daily Mail.
Fina claimed that Fina’s decision was based scientifically and on medical evidence.
“Fina’s approach in drafting this policy was comprehensive, science-based and inclusive, and, importantly, Fina’s approach emphasized competitive fairness,”After the release of the rule, Brent Nowicki, Fina’s executive director, stated that he was relieved.
Husain Al-Musallam, President of Fina, stated that this rule ensures fairness for female natural-born athletes.
“Fina will always welcome every athlete,” Al-Musallam said. “The creation of an open category will mean that everybody has the opportunity to compete at an elite level. This has not been done before, so Fina will need to lead the way. I want all athletes to feel included in being able to develop ideas during this process.”
Transgender activists, though, are critics of Fina’s move.
FINA’s new eligibility criteria for transgender athletes and athletes with intersex variations is discriminatory, harmful, unscientific and not in line with the 2021 IOC principles. If we truly want to protect women’s sports, we must include all women. https://t.co/MDjrWB6GrU
— Athlete Ally (@AthleteAlly) June 19, 2022
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