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Lia Thomas is a person who has been attracting a lot of attention lately. The transgender swimmer is under heavy criticism, and the last thing that happened was that she was nominated for the NCAA "Woman of the Year" award.
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines is furious about this situation. She believes that other women deserved the nomination much more and that Thomas spent 95% of his life as a man.
“It’s an insult, it’s incredibly disheartening and, quite frankly, it’s wrong,” Gaines told Fox News host.
“We have an NCAA ‘Woman of the Year’ who has spent 95% of their life as a male, it doesn’t add up. It’s incredibly insulting. Think of all the deserving female athletes who did not get this nomination and Thomas did after quite literally after one year.
Woman of the Year, it makes sense because it’s been one year Thomas has spent as a female”. “It’s insulting. It’s a punch in the gut, it’s a slap to the face and it’s a total regression of what Title IX stands for,” she said..
“I just laughed because that’s what we’re doing at this point, is laughing at women,” she said. "This award combines athletic performance with academics, service, and character," former Kentucky swimming star Riley Gaines said.
"What character has Thomas shown other than sheer selfishness and entitlement? The disrespect and disregard for the other female athletes in Thomas' interviews is eye opening."
Riley Gaines on NCAA
The NCAA is already under fire, and Riley thinks they made a big mistake.
She also decided to send a message via Twitter: “Being the real girl in that photo and also University of Kentucky’s nominee for NCAA WOTY, this is yet another slap in the face to women,” she said. “First a female national title and now nominated for the pinnacle award in collegiate athletics.
The @NCAA has made this award worthless”. Vernon Jones is also one of those who does not support such decisions and believes that such things should cause protests. Woman of the Year! The NCAA Women’s sports is rooted in Title IX for women…females only, not men.
But [UPenn] nominated a man, #LiaThomas for the award. There should be a national peaceful protest." Lia Thomas will have to find a way to deal with things like this because the pressure is really huge on her. If Thomas wins the award, there will be various reactions.