Despite Lia Thomas, the worlds first division one title winner; taking testosterone suppressants; Dr. Michael Joyner confirms Thomas still has an advantage over the other female team mates. Thomas finished in a blistering four minutes and 33.24 seconds good for 1.75 seconds ahead of Virginia’s Emma Weyant, who came in second and just nine seconds behind Katie Ledecky’s record of 4:24.06.
It’s been an ongoing debate ever since the transgendered woman joined the swim team earlier this year. However, many people, including fellow athletes have argued that she has an unfair advantage over her teammates; given up until 2019 when she was legally considered a man. It was in May of that year that Thomas began gender-affirming hormone replacement therapy; a process which in her case, involved taking doses of estrogen to increase the level of female hormones sufficiently to initiate physical changes.
“The biggest misconception, I think, is the reason I transitioned,” Thomas told ABC News and ESPN. “People will say, ‘Oh, she just transitioned so she would have an advantage, so she could win.’ I transitioned to be happy, to be true to myself.”