Photo by JD Lasica from Pleasanton, CA, US via Wikimedia Commons
Michael Phelps reacted to the growing debate surrounding University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas last week, calling the issue “very complicated,” while noting that sports need an “even playing field” to be fair.
Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, compared the controversy surrounding Thomas to doping, saying he doesn’t believe he’s competed in a clean field in his entire career.
“I think this leads back to the organizing committees again,” Phelps told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday. “Because it has to be a level playing field. I think that’s something that we all need. Because that’s what sports are and for me, I don’t know where this is going to go. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Thomas has been dominating the pool in swimming competitions this season. She previously competed for three years on the school’s men’s team, though her success this year ignited criticism over allowing transgender women to compete against biological females.
Read more at Fox News
Actually it’s not complicated at all
If a Female in any sport is tested for Performance Enhancing Drugs and a high level of Testosterone is found she is disqualified from that event and could very well never be allowed to participate in that sport again. This is the very same DRUG/Hormone that is an the body of any healthy male and the longer that this Drug/Hormone is in their body the stronger/bigger/larger heart/larger lungs/bigger hands/bigger feet/larger muscles will have developed. It doesn’t matter that HE is now on Estrogen the development has already taken place and CANNOT be Reversed.
Good for him for straight-up comparing it to doping. That is what it is. It is cheating.
Common sense could help this situation ! And bringing back normalcy….. if anyone knows what that is ?