Caitlyn Jenner Says Lia Thomas Is NOT The Rightful NCAA Women's Champion
Caitlyn Jenner refuses to acknowledge transgender swimmer Lia Thomas as the winner of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship - agreeing with Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
Last week saw swimmer Thomas win the women's 500-yard freestyle event ahead of Emma Weyant by 1.75 seconds.
Weyant is a Florida native and it saw DeSantis claim he'll be recognising her as the winner going forward, something Jenner echoed on social media.
The 72-year-old tweeted: "@GovRonDeSantis agreed! She [Weyant] is the rightful winner!
"It's not transphobic or anti-trans, it's COMMON SENSE!"
Jenner is a former Olympic athlete and won the gold medal in the men's decathlon in the 1976 event as Bruce Jenner.
She announced her decision to transition from a man to a woman in 2015.
Thomas is the first trans woman to win an NCAA championship, the highest honour a collegiate athlete can receive.
Trans rights are a polarising topic in the United States and Thomas received a mixture of cheers and boos while accepting her win.
Thomas swam for the University of Pennsylvania's men's team before starting hormone replacement therapy in 2019.
Governor DeSantis said: "By allowing men to compete in women's sports, the NCAA is destroying opportunities for women, making a mockery of its championships, and perpetuating a fraud.
"In Florida, we reject these lies and recognise Sarasota's Emma Weyant as the best women's swimmer in the 500y freestyle."
Jenner has been vocal about trans athletes and appeared on Fox News earlier this month to slam the NCAA.
"'[Thomas'] [is] playing within the rules. What I've said from the beginning [are] the rules aren't tough enough," she said.
"Just being on testosterone depressants for a year or two, whatever the rules are now, they keep changing, obviously, it is not enough.
"Lia Thomas just dominated in the pool, and I'm sure she took it quite easily because she did not want to win by too much.
"I think she was probably taking it very easy in the race because she knew the world was watching, and she's just going to go fast enough to be able to win the race."
The belief of Thomas' critics are that she'll will have an advantage over her opponents.
Jenner then said she'd like to engage in a dialogue with Thomas over the issue.
Thomas is hoping she can inspire other trans athletes and trans kids with her story and believes representation is important.
Topics: Lia Thomas
Daniel Marland