Caitlyn Jenner is interested in talking with fellow trans woman Lia Thomas to know how the University of Pennsylvania swimmer feels about competing against biological women in sports.
The athlete and reality television star, who was born Bruce Jenner, said Thomas may not have swum at full speed when becoming the first openly trans athlete to win a Division I national championship Thursday “because she didn’t want to get too much attention.”
“Honestly, I would love to talk to Lia Thomas,” Jenner said in an interview with Fox News. “I would love to sit down for an hour and discuss this issue with her. I don’t think she’s done anything wrong. She’s played within the rules, but I want to know what her motivation is — if she feels good about this, what’s going on in her head.”
THE OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALISTS LIA THOMAS BEAT AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jenner claimed to have reached out to Thomas. “We’ll see how it works out,” Jenner added.
Thomas, a senior on the Penn women’s swim team, finished the 500-yard freestyle at the front of the pack in 4 minutes, 33.24 seconds at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. Thomas competed against University of Virginia freshman Emma Weyant, University of Texas freshman Erica Sullivan, and Stanford University senior Brooke Forde. Thomas ended up finishing 1.75 seconds ahead of second-place Weyant.
Some argue that Thomas’s winning ways present a problem that needs to be addressed.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova said an asterisk should be placed on Thomas’s name “if she starts breaking records left and right.” She said the NCAA could establish two categories to create a level playing field: one for biological females to compete against biological females and another for any athlete wishing to compete.
Prior to transitioning, Jenner was a well-known athlete who won the Olympic men’s decathlon in 1976. Jenner told Fox News in January that biologically male athletes should not compete against biological women due to an inherently unfair advantage.
Jenner says the problem lies with the NCAA and other organizations “that have allowed this to happen.” Jenner stressed that the rules “aren’t tough enough” and that “just being on testosterone depressants for a year or two” is not enough.
Jenner has also said banning all trans athletes would be unfair and that the matter should be examined “on an individual basis.”
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The NCAA has not responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
