Former Olympian Sharron Davies says ‘100s of males are stealing places and prizes from females in sport’ in disgust at trans cyclist winning bronze in a race in the US
Olympic medalist Sharron Davies has claimed that ‘hundreds of men are stealing from women in sport’ after a trans cyclist won a bronze medal in a race in the United States.
Davies was a voice against transgender athletes competing in women’s events.
The former swimmer responded to social media posts saying transgender cyclist Catherine Barnwell had won bronze after finishing third in the Brumble Kermesse Road Race in Rhode Island on Monday.
One photo showed Barnwell next to the winner and runner-up of the United States race.
Davies hit back at “disgusting sexism” by allowing transgender athletes to compete, claiming “places and prizes” are being stolen from women.
Sharron Davies has claimed that ‘hundreds of men are stealing from women in sport’ after a trans cyclist won a bronze medal at a race in the United States.
Davies was responding to a post saying transgender cyclist Catherine Barnwell won a bronze medal in a women’s race on Monday
The Olympic medalist claimed that ‘awards and prizes’ are being stolen from female athletes
Davies wrote: ‘And again… Hundreds if not thousands of men are now stealing places, honors, prizes, podiums, titles, scholarships and very special character building opportunities, even their dreams, from women in sports across the world every bloody day Western world!
“It’s disgusting sexism.”
The former swimmer, who won silver in the 400-meter medley at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, previously responded to an image of trans athlete Cece Telfer taking part in a women’s hurdles event.
Telfer, who previously competed as a man, became the first openly transgender athlete to win a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) title in 2019 and ran in the Women’s Invitational 60m hurdles in Boston in February.
The sprinter had qualified for the final of the event and finished fifth in the preliminary races, but reportedly disqualified herself during the deciding race.
Davies wrote on X (formerly Twitter): ‘Look for the male athlete in the women’s race! It’s just cheating.’
A video was also posted of the 6-foot-2 Telfer preparing for the race, with the sprinter jumping up and down and loosening her joints at the starting blocks.
Davies also attacked a transgender athlete competing in a women’s 60m hurdles event
Images of trans athlete Cece Telfer competing in a women’s event were posted online
Davies wrote on X (formerly Twitter): ‘Look for the male athlete in the women’s race! It’s just cheating.’
Davies previously faced backlash from transgender activists who reportedly targeted her children’s school after she spoke out against trans athletes’ participation in women’s sports.
The 61-year-old, who has attended 12 Olympic Games as a competitor and broadcaster, backed the decision to prevent transgender cyclist Emily Bridges from racing against female riders. Bridges was at the center of a debate following her attempts last year to compete against female athletes.
Speaking to LBC, Davies said: ‘I don’t think Emily Bridges should be allowed to compete with women. I think she should absolutely be able to participate, and it is very important that we make all sports inclusive.
‘However, thanks to a women’s category and an open category, everyone can participate in fair sports. What kind of message are we sending to young girls when we tell them that men deserve and are worthy of fair sport, but women are not. What kind of message is that for a young, aspiring athlete?’
The issue of transgender participation in women’s sports has sparked much debate in recent years.
Tennis star Martina Navratilova and two-time Olympic gold medalist Daley Thompson are among the former athletes who have raised concerns about the debate.
Several governing bodies have introduced policies regarding the participation of transgender athletes in recent years.
World Athletics voted last year to ban transgender women from competing in international female athletics events.
Telfer previously became the first openly trans athlete to win an NCAA title in 2019
Telfer had competed on the Franklin Pierce University men’s track and field teams from 2016 to 2017
It was decided to ‘prioritize fairness and the integrity of female competition before inclusion’. The new rules state that transgender athletes are only eligible to compete in the women’s disciplines if they “have not experienced any part of male puberty after Tanner Stage 2 or before age 12, whichever is later.”
World Aquatics changed its policy in 2022 so that transgender women can only compete in women’s races if they complete their transition at age 12.
Their rules also required swimmers to prove to the federation that they have continuously suppressed their testosterone levels since then.
To accommodate transgender athletes, World Aquatics has created an ‘open category’ in which transgender athletes can compete against each other at events.
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has attempted to challenge these rules at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a bid to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The debate over transgender athletes’ participation in elite sports intensified when Thomas became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history in 2022.
Why British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies (who fought against East German drug cheats) is advocating AGAINST trans inclusion in women’s sports
Davies claims her father, Terry, was punished for refusing to remain silent about doping
Between 1975 and 1985, Davies missed out on a string of medals when swimming rivals were encouraged by the East German Swimming Federation to use male sex hormone drugs, causing thousands to suffer organ damage or psychological trauma.
Davies says there are parallels with East German doping and transgender athletes taking hormone-suppressing drugs in a quest to win medals in the women’s categories. The issue hit the mainstream when trans swimmer LiaThomas defeated female competition and broke numerous records at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships in Atlanta.
Bridges, who came out as a transgender woman in October 2020, made headlines in March when she was banned from competing in the Olympics against Olympic hero Dame Laura Kenny. British National Omnium Championships at the 11th hour by the world governing body UCI.
In May 2019, Davies, Dame Kelly Holmes, Paula Radcliffe and 60 elite athletes wrote a letter to Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), expressing concerns about the inclusion of male-born athletes in women’s competitions.
Previously, Davies told Sportsmail: ‘No one ever wants to ban people from exercising. It’s not that I don’t have empathy for someone who is transgender. It must be incredibly difficult. We only ask that people be excluded from categories in which they do not belong. They just have to race where their biology fits into the category.
“We wouldn’t be okay with putting a 15-year-old in the under-tens race. We wouldn’t consider putting a heavyweight boxer together with a bantamweight. That’s why the women’s category was invented in the first place. It’s to give women the opportunity to win, otherwise we wouldn’t win anything.
‘Whatever your expression or sexuality, sport is there for you. It just has to be fair. And fairness must come before inclusion.”
In 2022, the NCAA implemented a new transgender participation policy which is in line with that of the International Olympic Committee. Under the rules introduced in 2022, transgender athletes were required to have completed a year of testosterone suppression treatment to be eligible to compete.
The rules have since been updated for the 2023-2024 season, requiring athletes to meet the above criteria and now meet the sport’s standard for documented testosterone levels before the season, prior to the first competition in an NCAA event and prior to any competition in the non-championship segment.
At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Games, but failed to make a lift in women’s weightlifting over 87 kg.