A celebrated Olympic medal winner has blasted a male athlete for using transgender rule to compete in women’s events, describing the tactic as “simply cheating.”
Sharron Davies is a former Olympic swimmer who won a silver in the 400 medley for Britain in 1980.
After retiring from swimming, Davies went on to star as a “Gladiator” in the UK’s version of the hit TV game show.
She has since enjoyed a long career as a sports commentator.
In recent years, Davies has become an outspoken advocate for women’s rights in sports and a critic of male athletes competing in female events.
During a debate on social media on Sunday, Davies was among those to slam policies that allow men who claim to be “transgender women” to compete in women’s sports.
The debate emerged when a picture of male transgender track athlete CeCe Telfer circulated across social media from an event earlier this year.
Telfer, a male who claims to be a “trans woman,” was competing in a meet a few years after winning an NCAA Division II championship with Franklin Pierce University in 2019.
In the photo, Telfer is seen towering above the real women that he’s competing against.
“Spot the male athlete in the women’s race!” Davies wrote in a post on X.
“It’s simply Cheating.”
Spot the male athlete in the women’s race! It’s simply Cheating https://t.co/e5AhnCuRCF
— Sharron Davies MBE (@sharrond62) March 31, 2024
Davies was far from the only critic, however.
Others criticized the NCAA for allowing Telfer to compete in the championships about five years ago.
Currently, the NCAA takes a sport-by-sport approach when it comes to its transgender participation rules.
The NCAA takes its rules from the sport’s national governing body.
USA Track and Field takes its policy from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The IOC says that “robust and peer-reviewed research” should determine eligibility.
“This Framework recognizes both the need to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their gender identity or sex variations, can practice sport in a safe, harassment-free environment that recognizes and respects their needs and identities,” the IOC said in January.
World Athletics said last March it would prohibit “transgender women” (men) from competing against real females.
The organization added it “decided to prioritize fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion.”
Nevertheless, Telfer is still expressing hope that he can compete for a spot on Team USA.
He hasn’t attempted to join the men’s team, however.
