Ian Thorpe on FINA’s Transgender Ban: “They’ve Actually Got It Wrong”

Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe spoke out against FINA’s decision to ban transgender women from elite female competitions in a recent interview with The Guardian.

The five-time Olympic champion referred to the ruling as a “temporary solution” that failed to consider the full impact it could have on the trans community, who he called  “some of the most marginalized and disadvantaged people in this country.”

“This is a very complicated issue — I can’t deny that — and I am personally opposed to the position FINA has taken on this,” said Thorpe, whose LGBTQ+ advocacy efforts have included criticizing Australia’s new religious discrimination bill for allowing “state-sanctioned discrimination” against marginalized groups. “I am for fairness in sport, but I’m also for equality in sport. And in this instance, they’ve actually got it wrong.”

At FINA’s annual congress in June, the organization barred trans women who have gone through puberty from competing in women’s categories. FINA vowed to create an “open” category for trans women who transitioned after the age of 11, such as recent NCAA champion Lia Thomas from the University of Pennsylvania. It was the most restrictive policy to date among global sports governing bodies, although the International Rugby League followed suit soon after and others such as FIFA have subsequently initiated reviews.

Advocacy groups condemned FINA’s ruling as discriminatory, adding that enforcing the policy means violating the rights and privacy of all female swimmers. Olympic gold medalists such as Summer Sanders (USA) and Cate Campbell (AUS) have praised FINA’s decision, but Thorpe is the highest-profile swimmer to publicly come out against it. He said that concerns about fairness and physiological differences between men and women have been blown out of proportion.

Two transgender women made appearances at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard finished last in her event while American BMX rider Chelsea Wolfe was an alternate who did not compete.

“So when you run the numbers, someone who’s gone through the tough process and been able to transition to the sex that they determine for themselves is highly unlikely to ever be able to win an Olympic gold medal,” Thorpe said. “When it comes to the elite level, there needs to be a sensible conversation which includes endocrinologists, psychologists, physiologists – everyone that actually may have an opinion in this space.”

“If someone is complaining about someone who is trans when they happen to be 10 years of age, it is bizarre,” he added. “I can almost promise you that child will not be competing at an adult stage.”

FINA defended its policy over the summer, arguing that while “some individuals and groups may be uncomfortable with the use of medical and scientific terminology related to sex and sex-linked traits, some use of sensitive terminology is needed to be precise about the sex characteristics that justify separate competition categories.”