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The “Stop Men from Women's Sports” executive order ensures that the next generation of female athletes have the right safety, privacy and fair opportunity to compete with equal opportunities for them.
I am grateful for President Donald Trump's prompt action in fulfilling his campaign promise to protect women's sports. The clarity and determinism of this administration sends a strong message to women and girls all over the country. We are important.
Women's sports were created to celebrate and protect our unique physical attributes, and have been able to develop confidence, resilience, leadership and determination. Our category is separate from that of males. Not because we are inferior, but because we are different. It has distinct physiological properties such as lung volume, height, limb proportions, and heart size. These differences affect performance, especially in endurance sports, where all breaths are counted.
President Donald Trump has not signed an executive order for women's sports in the East Room at the White House on February 5, 2025. (via Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP Getty Images)
Furthermore, female athletes face different risks, such as high sensitivity to stress fractures, ACL tears, and female athlete triads, with low energy availability, irregular menstrual cycles, and weakening of bones. It may lead to. These conditions make women at increased risk for injuries, eating disorders, anxiety, depression and extended recovery time.
Trump vows to cut off federal funds to Maine by refusing to adhere to the “no man in women's sports” order
Competing with other women is already a tough physical challenge, but at least it is a fair challenge. Ignoring the physical superiority of men is contradictory to science and common sense, violates the privacy of female athletes in locker rooms, leading to preventable injuries.
I started swimming at the age of four. After 18 years of strict practices, strict nutritional planning, disciplined sleep schedules, physical rehabilitation and social sacrifice, I had the opportunity to compete at the highest level.
During my senior year at the University of Kentucky, I was familiar with swimmers ranked third and second in the nation. However, I had never heard of the first ranked swimmers. This is rare in elite competitions, and top athletes usually know each other. After some research, I discovered that Leah Thomas, a top-ranked swimmer, was ranked 462nd in the previous year's Will Thomas, competing in the men's team, similar to Will Thomas. He was (and still is).
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I thought the NCAA would recognize the injustice of the situation, as my teammates and I did. I was hoping they would step in to protect women's sport equity and privacy. But instead, they did nothing. We endured the experience of violation of being forced to share the locker room with Thomas and saw him dominate the world's most impressive and skilled female swimmer in full body length. Ta.
In the 200 freestyle, Thomas and I tied them down to a hundredth of a second. However, the NCAA gave Thomas the trophy. When asked why, officials told me that Thomas was advised that he needed to hold the photo trophy. At that moment, it became painfully clear. The NCAA was willing to ignore, undermine and betray female athletes in order to validate male emotions and identity.
Leah Thomas and Riley Gaines after being tied up at the 200 freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships held in Atlanta on March 18, 2022. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The administration's actions provide long-deferred evidence to female athletes who are boldly dependent on and harassed to protect themselves. This executive order will give hope to the next generation and reinforce the need to protect the equity, safety and privacy of women's sports. The momentum is growing.
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In February 2025, the NCAA took the first step towards restoring fairness by limiting women's sports competition to women. However, the Ministry of Education has identified loopholes in its policy and acknowledged that more work is needed. I urge the NCAA to recognize and support the achievements of female athletes and to correct the injustice we have endured over the past few years.
Fighting to protect women's sports was not easy. But courage creates courage and numbers are powerful. Let's continue to defend truth, common sense and women's rights. The next generation of female athletes rely on us.
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