Olympian cyclist says media have ‘shut down’ discussion on transgender athletes in women’s sports
Asher Notheis
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Three-time Olympian cyclist Inga Thompson claimed on Tuesday that women athletes who protest against transgender athletes competing in women’s cycling have been “actively silenced.”
Thompson’s statement comes after she encouraged women cyclists to protest policies regarding transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, asking women cyclists to “start taking a knee at the starting lines” and for team managers to speak up for their riders. On Tuesday, Thompson added that everyone who works in cycling has been “asked to be silent” and “not given a voice,” she said during an appearance on Fox News.
https://twitter.com/ithompsonfdn/status/1655149769269080065?s=20
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“It’s like the media really has effectively shut down all dialogue about this, and so many of us on the outside are trying to be this voice, to give the women the confidence to step forward without the fear of losing their sponsorship,” Thompson said. “And this is why we’re asking the owners of the team to step up, for fans to come and to have an active support for these women so that we can have equality in women’s sports.”
Thompson’s statement comes after Austin Killips, a biological male who identifies as female, took first place in the Tour of the Gila women’s category on April 30, according to a report. Thompson said that Killips is “competing legally” according to the policy rules and that changing the policy is now required.
Thompson noted that when the policy rules were first adopted, there was “not a lot of science.” But since taking up the policy, more than 17 peer-reviewed studies have shown that transgender cyclists competing against women cyclists is not fair.
In the wake of negative responses to Killips’s win, the Union Cycliste Internationale issued a statement that it heard “concerns” surrounding unfair competition and that its management committee decided to reopen the discussion on transgender participation in elite cycling when it meets with national federations and athletes in Glasgow come August.
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Thompson’s call for women athletes to protest joins a call by women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines, a former championship swimmer, who recently stated during an appearance on Hannity it is time for athletes, both male and female, to “take a knee” at the start of athletic events “to protect the integrity of women’s sports.”
On Monday, Gaines said she would “call on well-known female athletes” each day for a week to take a stance on the matter of transgender athletes in women’s sports “because silence is complicity.” The first two athletes she called on were tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams.
https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1655614427108978688?s=20