Female athletes racing 'male bodies' are told to 'suck it up', argues Olympic medallist
24 March 2022, 16:23 | Updated: 24 March 2022, 17:51
British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies on the trans row in sport.
Olympic medal-winning swimmer Sharron Davies has told LBC that "millions" are spent every year on preventing doping in sport yet it's "totally acceptable to put a male body into a female race and say 'you've just got to suck it up girls'."
Last week three college swimmers who were beaten by transgender rival Lia Thomas staged a protest on the podium after being beaten, with Ms Thomas being booed loudly as she claimed first place.
Ms Davies told Andrew Castle: "We want fair sport, and we want females to have the same opportunities of success in sport as their male counterparts are allowed to have, and obviously at the moment that's just not happening.
"There's a 10-30% benefit between male and female performance... and just reducing testosterone for 1, 2, or 3 years has been proven to make very little difference.
Read more: 'Trans athlete stole my spot in final': Swimmer who lost out to Lia Thomas breaks silence
"So we spend millions upon millions every year trying to stop people from cheating by taking drugs to get the tiniest advantage, and yet it's totally acceptable to put a male body into a female race and say 'you've just got to suck it up girls, don't worry about all the years of training, just go in there and fight for second, third, or fourth."
Ms Davies said that athletes and coaches are being "gagged" on the issue of trans-participation in sport and that it's "unacceptable".
