At the 2022 NCAA swimming championships, Riley Gaines finished in a tie for fifth place with Lia Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle. Just a day earlier, Thomas made history by winning the 500-yard freestyle as the first openly transgender Division I champion.
Gaines later said she was surprised by the tie and frustrated when officials asked her to pose with the sixth-place trophy while Thomas held the fifth-place prize, because there were no duplicate awards for ties.
“It hit me that no one else is going to speak out about this,” Gaines said later. “I’m not someone who’s scared.”
Since then, Gaines has become a vocal critic of trans inclusion in women’s sports. She argues that trans women have an unfair athletic advantage.
In June, Gaines testified at the University of Pennsylvania as part of the school’s move to erase Thomas’s records and prohibit future trans athletes from playing in female sports to retain federal funding.
Gaines, who says she was personally affected by Thomas competing, called for an official apology from the university. She shared her reaction on social media, describing feeling “vindicated” after years of advocating for women’s sports.
Who is Riley Gaines?
Gaines later said she was surprised by the tie and frustrated when officials asked her to pose with the sixth-place trophy while Thomas held the fifth-place prize, because there were no duplicate awards for ties.
“It hit me that no one else is going to speak out about this,” Gaines said later. “I’m not someone who’s scared.”
Since then, Gaines has become a vocal critic of trans inclusion in women’s sports. She argues that trans women have an unfair athletic advantage.
In June, Gaines testified at the University of Pennsylvania as part of the school’s move to erase Thomas’s records and prohibit future trans athletes from playing in female sports to retain federal funding.
Gaines, who says she was personally affected by Thomas competing, called for an official apology from the university. She shared her reaction on social media, describing feeling “vindicated” after years of advocating for women’s sports.
Who is Riley Gaines?
- Riley Gaines is a former NCAA swimmer. Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Riley Gaines comes from an athletic family
- She is a vocal conservative activist campaigning against trans women competing in women’s sports.
- Gaines was the named plaintiff in a lawsuit against the NCAA, claiming trans athletes violate Title IX protections for female athletes.
- She hosts a podcast called Gaines for Girls and authored the autobiography Swimming Against the Current: Fighting for Common Sense in Women’s Sports.
- Gaines played a role in the creation of Georgia’s “Riley Gaines Act,” which bars transgender women from competing on female sports teams.
- She regularly speaks at conservative events and media platforms, framing her work as a defence of fairness in women’s sports.
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