A battle for fairness in women’s sports
Former collegiate track star Minna Svärd is demanding that her “stolen” championship title be returned, years after she placed second to a transgender athlete in the 2019 NCAA Division II Women’s 400-meter hurdles.
“It’s time for us to speak up and actually tell people about how we feel and what we’ve been going through,” Svärd said Wednesday on Fox News.
NCAA under fire for policies on transgender athletes
Svärd, a former standout hurdler, expressed frustration that female athletes’ concerns have been disregarded in the name of inclusivity. She specifically called out the NCAA for failing to protect women’s sports.
“Nothing about it is fair. It’s not okay that NCAA is allowing this to even go on. They absolutely need to be held accountable for what they are allowing female athletes to go through. It’s not fair.”
CeCé Telfer, the athlete who took first place in the 2019 competition, previously ranked 390th in men’s track and field. Despite this, Telfer went on to dominate the women’s division, reigniting debates over the role of transgender athletes in sports.
Telfer pushes back against criticism
Telfer has continued to advocate for inclusion in track and field and has expressed hopes of making it to the Olympics. However, World Athletics has prohibited Telfer from competing in women’s world-ranking events. In a recent interview, Telfer attributed growing opposition to transgender athletes in sports to political shifts.
“I need some explanation as to why you want to completely eradicate us from society when we’ve done nothing wrong,” Telfer told CNN Sports last month.
Svärd calls for policy changes and past corrections
Svärd responded to Telfer’s comments by clarifying that female athletes are not trying to “eradicate” transgender competitors, but rather, they are demanding fairness in sports.
“No one” is trying to “eradicate” transgender athletes, she argued, but she and others want equal opportunity and a level playing field.
She elaborated on her position in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Monday, where she criticized the NCAA for allowing male-born athletes to compete in women’s divisions, effectively denying biological females their rightful titles. She also praised former President Donald Trump’s executive order, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports, issued on February 5, which she says establishes “a clear policy protecting the integrity of female athletics.”
NCAA clarifies new policy
However, for Svärd and other athletes in her position, the policy changes have come too late. The NCAA’s updated guidelines state that athletes “assigned male at birth” are prohibited from competing in women’s events but may still practice with the women’s team and receive related benefits.
An NCAA spokesperson reaffirmed this stance in a statement to Fox News Digital last month:
“The policy is clear that there are no waivers available, and athletes assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team with amended birth certificates or other forms of ID.”
Regarding the allowance of transgender athletes in practice squads, the spokesperson added:
“Male practice players have been a staple in college sports for decades, particularly in women’s basketball, and the association will continue to account for that in the policy.”
As debates over fairness and inclusion in women’s sports continue to intensify, Svärd and other female athletes remain committed to fighting for what they believe is a long-overdue correction to past injustices.
