Transgender swimmer Thomas loses legal battle over ban

American swimmer Lia Thomas has mislaid a ineligible lawsuit against governing assemblage World Aquatics astatine nan Court of Arbitration for Sport.

World Aquatics (WA) voted successful 2022 to extremity transgender women from competing successful women's elite races if they person gone done immoderate portion of nan process of antheral puberty.

Thomas, 25, who became nan first transgender jock to triumph nan highest US nationalist assemblage title successful March 2022, was attempting to overturn that prohibition astatine nan Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), arguing nan rules were discriminatory.

Cas first had to find whether Thomas was eligible to situation nan rules.

In a 24-page verdict, Cas said Thomas was "simply not entitled to prosecute pinch eligibility to compete successful WA competitions" arsenic personification who was nary longer a personnel of US Swimming, "let unsocial compete successful a WA competition", and truthful was "not sufficiently affected" by nan rules to beryllium capable to situation them.

WA praised nan ruling and said it is simply a "major measurement guardant successful our efforts to protect women's sport".

"World Aquatics is dedicated to fostering an situation that promotes fairness, respect, and adjacent opportunities for athletes of each genders and we reaffirm this pledge," a connection said.

"Our policies and practices are continuously evaluated to guarantee they align pinch these halfway values, which led to nan preamble of our unfastened category.

"We stay committed to moving collaboratively pinch each stakeholders to uphold nan principles of inclusivity successful aquatic sports and stay assured that our gender inclusion argumentation represents a adjacent approach."