Lia Thomas Nominated for NCAA’ Woman of the Year’ Award, #Lia #Thomas #Nominated #NCAA #Woman #Year #Award Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
The University of Pennsylvania has nominated transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male, for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Woman of the Year award.
Thomas is one of 577 nominees selected from the approximately 223,000 female collegiate athletes across the country.
The NCAA’s Woman of the Year award recognize “Female student athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics during their college careers.”
NCAA member schools can nominate up to two female student athletes for the award, with the proviso that if two are nominated, one must “be an international student-athlete or student-athlete of color.”
As 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the NCAA respect the top 30 nominees and naming the award winner at the annual convention in San Antonio, Texas, in January.
Thomas, who had mediocre performances when competing against male student athletes, made headlines this year after finishing first in the women’s 500-yard freestyle event in the NCAA’s swimming championship.
Lia Thomas just took first place at the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships in the 500 freestyle. #SaveWomensSports pic.twitter.com/UWvDQMYHRJ
— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) March 17, 2022
Thomas’s performance shocked critics, political pundits and her teammates. In an anonymous letter to UPenn and the Ivy League, 16 of Thomas’s classmates complained about his “unfair advantage over competition in the women’s category.”
“Biologically, Lia has an unfair advantage over the competition in the women’s category, as evidenced by her rankings that have risen from #462 as a male to No. 1 as a female,” the letter reads. said.
Another teammate said, “You can tell he’s mentally ill.”
“You can see that he is mentally ill. I saw the video and was so outraged. Lia identified as a woman, but she’s not a woman,” says the teammate said. “That’s a fact. It doesn’t matter how you feel.”
Transgender UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Women’s tennis legend Martina Navratilova said Thomas’ name should be accompanied by an “asterisk.”
“It’s not about transgender women ever winning,” Navratilova said. “But it’s about not allowing them to win if they weren’t close to winning as men.”
“But right now the rules are what they are,” she continued. “Maybe she’ll put an asterisk there, when she starts breaking records left and right.”
The 577 nominees for NCAA’s Women of the Year represent student athletes in 23 sports at the Division I, Division II and Division III levels.