Sebastian Coe has claimed that the “integrity and future of women’s sport” is at stake after the American swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship last week. The World Athletics president also called on the International Olympic Committee to introduce regulations that can be applied across every sport and insisted that “gender cannot trump biology”.
Thomas, who swam for the University of Pennsylvania men’s team for three seasons before starting hormone replacement therapy in 2019, made history by winning the 500-yard freestyle in Atlanta but has faced protests since starting to compete as a woman. Asked how important the challenge of transgender women is in athletics, Lord Coe said: “I think that the integrity of women’s sport – if we don’t get this right – and actually the future of women’s sport, is very fragile.”
