International Olympic Committee introduces transgender athlete guidelines
Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss the new guidelines and what it means for the future of women's sports.
Three-time Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson spoke out against the International Olympic Committee’s latest guidelines regarding transgender athletes. Thompson explained the potential "heartbreaking" consequences of the policy, which she argued could discourage young women from competing.
Thompson, who grew up prior to Title IX, began her athletic career in competition against men.
"When I was young, we had no categories for women, and so we did race with the boys and we really kind of got beat up by the male athletes," she said on "Fox & Friends First" Monday.
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The IOC, however, focused on the importance of equality in its ‘monumental’ transgender guidelines.
The IOC "… recognizes the particular importance of advancing equality for women in sport and preserving fair and meaningful competition for elite women athletes…" according to a statement in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
But Thompson explained that the new guidelines are unfair to female athletes.
Multiple states have banned transgender student athletes from participating on the teams that align with their gender identity. (AP Photo/Samuel Metz, File)
"We have over a dozen peer-reviewed studies that state that no amount of testosterone suppression mitigates the advantage of being born male," she told co-host Todd Piro. "So even though we have all this scientific evidence out there now that this is not fair to women, they're very much advocating for the inclusion of the transgender athletes at the elite level."
She stressed the need for sex-separated categories in sports, an issue she experienced firsthand. Thompson said many young women walk away from their sport when faced with competing against athletes who were born male.
Though many athletic organizations follow the lead of the IOC, Thompson encouraged people at the grassroots level to advocate for fairness.
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"I think that the parents need to get together and really push for the equality of these girls," she said.
Thompson said she hoped the IOC’s new guidelines would acknowledge the importance of sex-separated rights for women, but she felt like it was advocating for the inclusion of transgender athletes instead. Overall, she said the intent of the IOC remains "fuzzy" on whether transgender athletes would be allowed to compete with women.
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"We've seen again and again in multiple sports where the power of a male ends up injuring these females, and you wonder why the girls don't stick around," she said.
"I am discouraged. It is heartbreaking when I read through this paper."