UFC star Jorge Masvidal surveys social media about biological women in sports

UFC star Jorge Masvidal fired off a tweet Monday about his considerations when it got here to organic ladies and transgender ladies competing in sports activities.

Masvidal’s tweet got here on the heels of transgender College of Pennsylvania swimming star Lia Thomas profitable a nationwide championship within the 500 free. Masvidal instructed he was involved for his daughter about the way forward for sports activities.

“What sport is left that’s nonetheless organic women vs organic women? Need to put my daughter in a sport that’s nonetheless truthful to her,” he tweeted.

Thomas’ prowess within the pool has been below the nationwide highlight for the previous couple of months and sparked a debate over whether or not transgender ladies needs to be competing in opposition to organic ladies.

By means of the controversy, Thomas picked up a win within the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday. She set a program file with a 4:33.24 mark. Thomas was about three seconds off Georgia Tech’s pool file, which was set by Leah Smith of Virginia in 2016 with a mark of 4:30.81. Katie Ledecky holds the NCAA file with a 4:24.06 on the nationwide championships.

On this race, Thomas beat out Virginia freshman Emma Weyant by multiple second and Texas freshman Erica Sullivan by at the least two. Brooke Forde, who gained a silver medal on the Olympics in Tokyo over the summer time within the 4×200-meter freestyle, raced for Stanford and completed in fourth with a 4:36.18.

LIA THOMAS FINISHES LAST PLACE IN THE 100-YARD FREESTYLE FINAL AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

“I attempt to ignore it as a lot as I can,” Thomas informed ESPN after profitable the race. “I attempt to deal with my swimming, what I have to do to prepare for my races. And simply attempt to block out the whole lot else.”

Colby Covington (L) and Jorge Masvidal battle of their welterweight combat throughout UFC 272 at T-Cell Enviornment on March 5, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(David Becker/Getty Photographs)

Thomas has not executed many interviews about her 12 months. She informed Sports activities Illustrated earlier this month she took difficulty with those that assist her determination to reside her life as a transgender lady however dismiss her from competing.

“The quite simple reply is that I’m not a person. I’m a lady, so I belong on the ladies’s staff. Trans individuals deserve that very same respect each different athlete will get,” she stated.

Earlier than that, her solely public interview had been with “SwimSwam.” She informed the podcast she began to search out “peace” after she felt like she was trapped inside a person’s physique for years.

The NCAA up to date its transgender participation coverage again in January to defer to the steerage of every sport’s governing physique. The NCAA introduced that its coverage would turn into efficient in March, beginning with the Division I Ladies’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

Lia Thomas seems on after profitable the Ladies’s 500 Yard Freestyle through the 2022 NCAA Division I Ladies’s Swimming & Diving Championship on the McAuley Aquatic Heart on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Know-how on March 17, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia.
(Mike Comer/NCAA Pictures by way of Getty Photographs)

USA Swimming up to date its coverage shortly after requiring transgender athletes who’re competing at an elite stage to have small ranges of testosterone — half of what Thomas was allowed to compete with — for at the least 36 months earlier than being eligible, however the NCAA stated weeks later that the Administrative Subcommittee of the Committee on Aggressive Safeguards and Medical Points of Sports activities (CMAS) determined that it wouldn’t alter its testosterone steerage, stating that “implementing extra modifications right now may have unfair and probably detrimental impacts on colleges and student-athletes desiring to compete in 2022 NCAA ladies’s swimming championships.”

Fox Information’ Paulina Dedaj and the Related Press contributed to this report.