Olympics legend Sonia O’Sullivan has weighed in on the debate about whether transgender female athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sport - sparking a huge reaction online.
Sonia, who is one of Ireland’s best known Olympians, argued in her Irish Times column on Thursday that transgender athletes who have been born male should not be allowed to compete in women’s events as they have an unfair physiological advantage.
In the piece, she referenced American swimmer Lia Thomas, who became the first transgender female athlete to win a NCAA college swimming championship when she took the title in the women’s 500-yard freestyle last week.
Sonia - who won a gold medal in the 5000m at the 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the same event at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney - wrote: “Women’s sport exists in order to allow women compete on a level playing field against other biological born women; it is not a category one can transfer into.”
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She continued: “For me the only solution is to front up on the matter, not sit on the fence here, and decide that transgender athletes cannot be allowed into women’s events. We need to be certain about this.”
The article has racked up hundreds of comments online, as well as ‘Sonia O’Sullivan’ trending on Twitter in Ireland, with some readers letting their thoughts be known on the topic while others praised Sonia for taking a stance.
One person wrote: “Agree or disagree all you want, but fair play to @soniaagrith for expressing a view that she surely knows will attract some abuse.”
Another added: “As a former elite athlete Sonia knows exactly why those who have benefited from a male puberty will always retain a significant physical advantage over females.”
However, others disagreed with her stance, with one person writing on Twitter: “I'm not linking to the Sonia O'Sullivan piece because it's disgusting and transphobic. But the idea that trans women competing in sports is a 'major problem' is just a blatant falsehood.”
One person weighing in on Reddit said: “I think if you transition, you’re a woman/man in my eyes and should be in the eyes of society but you should have to give up elite level sports. There’s undeniable physical differences between sexes and that’s not going to change.”
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