Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas loses challenge barring her from elite women’s swimming races

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas lost her challenge against the Court of Arbitration of Sport in Switzerland — the world’s top court in matters of sporting fairness — to overturn the rules of World Aquatics that prevent transgender women from competing in women’s divisions. The judge ruled Thomas did not have standing to bring the case.

World Aquatics, which sets rules that inform elite competitions, including the Olympics, introduced a new gender policy in June 2022, allowing transgender women to compete in women’s events only if they transitioned before the age of 12 or before one of the early stages of puberty. The ruling excludes transgender women who underwent male puberty, like Thomas, from participating in women’s races.

Thomas began transitioning using hormone replacement therapy in May 2019. She attended the University of Pennsylvania and swam on the men’s team from the 2017-18 to 2019-20 seasons. By 2021, Thomas met the NCAA hormone therapy requirements to swim on Penn’s women’s team and did so for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.