#UCI World Cup

[velovelo]

#velo #cycling #cyclocross #uci world cup

[pubcapscott]

Ergon GDH Team grip launches as a two-time DH world champ

View On WordPress

#downhill #elite women #Enduro #Ergon #Erin GDH Team #Fabien Barel #Germany #Gravity #Henri Kiefer #national champion #Troy Brosnan #UCI #UCI World Cup #USA #Valentina Höll #women #world champion #World Cup

[tadejpogacar]

Fem van Empel, Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado & Aniek van Alphen UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Maasmechelen 2023 - Women's Elite 📸 by Luc Claessen/Getty Images & ucicyclocrossworldcup

#fem van empel #ceylin del carmen alvarado #aniek van alphen #team jumbo visma #alpecin deceuninck #cyclocross reds #cyclocross #women cyclocross #veldrijden #uci cyclo cross world cup 2023

[snortletortle]

lenzerheide 2022… wow

#uci mtb world cup #lenzerheide #mathias flückiger #nino schurter #gotta say i’m not such a big nino fan after that srf interview

[samkerrworshipper]

Please could you do an imagine with Lucy bronze where the reader is also on the England team and gets injured during a game and Lucy is basically just being really cute and fluffy as well as a little protective 🥰

AHHH

I loved this request sm so here you go!

i feel like this could be followed up with a part 2 to expand on the reader and lucy’s relationship so lmk if you want to see that! also please feel free to keep sending in requests god knows i need inspo rn lol

A shoulder to cry on

Lucy Bronze x Reader

fluff, lil bit of angst, injury, graphic injury, pain, hurt/comfort, 3200 words

blurb: when lucy’s girlfriend goes down in a match how does she deal with it and how does lucy look react

I was too busy watching the ball flying towards goal to see the body flying at me. Too busy focusing on the Australian goalkeeper to acknowledge the knees slowly sliding under my own feet. Too busy focusing on getting my team a goal to give us a chance to stop myself from being floored by the Australian whirlwind, Ellie Carpenter. I went head first into the turf, my body flopping down onto the grass with my head dug into the dirt. My ears were ringing and I was a groaning mess. My whole body hurt and I couldn’t even muster the energy to turn over to access the damage that had been inflicted. All I could feel was gut wrenching pain, from my feet all the way to my hip.

When I was finally turned over I was met with the sight of Ellie and Steph Catley, two Australians that I didn’t want to see right now. I was a screaming, shaking, crying mess. Both women were very clearly taken aback by my emotion. The stadium was a ruckus, and as my teary eyes flashed up I saw my goal being replayed on the big screen, a goal. At least that was something, I’d done something to help us claw our way back. We were 100 days off from the World Cup start though, 100 days. Judging by the amount of pain I was in though that was nowhere near enough time.

As a professional athlete there is always the background fear that you are going to get injured. An overwhelming worry constantly in the back of your head that maybe this time it is going to be your last, maybe the next time you step on the field it might be the last time in a while. As you become a professional, as you start playing for your nation you learn to silence that part of your brain, you can’t afford to live in fear that you are going to get hurt. But watching teammates, friends, people you love get hurt, reinstalls that part of your brain, makes you wonder if maybe you are next, maybe next time it’ll be your turn. That fear though, it’s nothing in comparison to actually getting hurt, nothing in comparison to realising maybe this time it actually is your last.

That was all I could think about as the two Australian women tried to talk to me, tried to communicate with me. The first one of my teammates to rush over was Leah, who shoved both Australians away before crouching down beside me.

“Hey y/n, take a deep breath, the medics are about to get here, you don’t need to worry.”

Leah’s words were like a breath of fresh air, a break from the constant ringing in my ears.

“L-ucy, need Lucy.”

Leah nodded at me, smiling down at my face and nodding. Her hand made it’s way down to my face and wiped away the tears that were falling.

“She’s on her way angel, just stay patient for me, she’s making her way over, just take those deep breaths.”

“Hurts, hurts so fucking bad.”

Leah nodded at me, I watched her eyes creep down my body to my legs and that was how I knew it was bad, because not even Leah could avoid looking.

“I know, I know angel, I am so sorry that I can’t do anything about that. Just keep taking those deep breaths for me.”

I couldn’t help but continue to sob as I waited for someone, anyone to give me some kind of relief. All I could feel was pain and it was clear in Leah’s mannerisms that she didn’t really know how to help me, how was she supposed to help me?

“Y/n, listen to me, take a deep breath, I know you are in pain, the medics are getting here as fast as they can so you just need to take some deep breaths.”

It didn’t help that we were positioned on the opposite side of the field that the medics would be on and it was also a problem that if the umpire hadn’t blown her whistle they wouldn’t be allowed on.

“How bad is it?”

The words left my mouth in between sobs and breaths. Leah clearly didn’t know what to say, she clearly didn’t want to worry me any more but Leah wasn’t a good liar and she had a shit poker face.

“Don’t worry about that, keep your eyes on me. It’s just me and you, kiddo.”

Leah had taken me under her wing long ago, she treated me like her little sister.

I watched her eyes flash up in a panic and before I knew it she was jumping off of her feet and rushing off in the direction behind my head. I couldn’t help but turn my head to watch where she was going. I was still a little bit spaced out so it took me a few seconds to spot her out but once I did I found her rushing towards Ellie, who was sitting a few metres behind me. I couldn’t figure out why she was rushing over until I spotted Lucy approaching, running towards her, a look of absolute anger on her face. Leah was trying to get to her before Lucy inevitably got to Ellie. I watched it unfold as Lucy just made it to Ellie before Leah did, yanking her up by under her armpits.

I didn’t get to see much more, my head was pulled back to being flat on the turf by Millie and Sam Kerr, my ex-teammates from Chelsea.

“Hey y/n/n, the medics are just about to get here, it’s going to be alright.”

Millie’s tone of voice was similar to that of Leah’s, calm, patient, the voice of a captain.

“I need Lucy.”

Lucy was my other half. The love of my life, my everything. I wanted her, I wanted her to be there to hold my hand and to tell me that everything was going to be fine, even if it wasn’t.

“I know, Leah’s sorting her out, she’ll be here in a minute.”

Lucy was insanely protective over me, to a concerning degree. In the past year I’d made the decision to move to Barca, to be with her and it had been great but something I’d learnt from playing alongside her regularly was that she was a little bit too protective over the people she loved. A defender did so much as foul me on the pitch and she did everything in her power to seek some sort of revenge whether it was in the form of physically hurting them or doing anything in her power to get to them.

“I need her Mil, please.”

Millie nodded at me and then looked at Sam, I was in fucking shambles.

“I’ll go get her okay, feel better kid.”

Sam patted me gently on the shoulder before leaving just me and Millie. I was still lying on the pitch, fighting back more tears as I looked up into the sky and just prayed for this to all be over, for the pain to subside and for everything to just dissipate.

The medics were the next people to make it over to us, accompanied by Sarina and our trainer. The game had obviously been stopped for me so they seemed to be in a rush to get me off, with my goal we had a shot at winning now.

“Hi Ms y/l/n, how are you feeling?”

“In pain.”

My answer was flat and the medic let out an empty laugh at my reply.

“Okay, on a scale of 1-10 where would you put yourself at?”

“A 6.”

Sarina snorted at my reply, she knew that I had a high threshold for pain, I’d met her originally when I was playing as a rookie for Chelsea, she’d been the Netherlands coach at time and the coach for a professional team in the Netherlands which she’d tried to recruit me for but I’d turned her down. I’d never have guessed a few years later she would be coaching me on a National level.

“That means its a nine.”

I glared at Sarina, she knew me a little bit too well.

“Okay, this is a penthrox whistle, it should administer immediate pain relief, enough that we should be able to get you on the stretcher and off the pitch.”

I looked at Millie, then at Sarina, then at the Medic, immediately shaking my head.

“I’m walking off.”

All of their faces told me that I was missing something.

“I can’t allow you to do that.”

In all of the chaos, all of the emergence, I hadn’t had the opportunity to even look at the source of my pain.

Before I could say anything more Lucy was crouching down beside my head and I couldn’t have been more grateful to see her. Her hand slid into mine and just her face, her smile, it was enough to make me feel like I wasn’t fighting a fucking battle.

“Luce, can you please tell them to let me walk off the pitch, just let me have that.”

I was fighting back tears and I could tell that Lucy was fighting an internal battle. Her eyes flashed down to my legs and then back to my face and just the split second gasp was enough to tell me that it was bad, really bad. Her hand fell to my face and that was how I knew it was not good and that was when I started sobbing again.

“How bad is it? Stop beating around the bush just tell me.”

All of the people above me looked between each other before the medic spoke,

“Your knee is dislocated, you’ve got some deep lacerations and stud marks in your shins and a piece of your tibia is sticking out of one of them. You are bleeding a lot, we need to get you off the field and to hospital, take the green whistle and we’ll get you off the field as soon as possible.”

Those words hurt, a lot, more than the injury itself. I nodded to the medic, I wasn’t walking off the field with that list of injuries, I was surprised I was still conscious with that comprise of injuries.

“Baby, just take the pain meds, you're in enough pain.”

Lucy’s voice, her convincing was probably the only thing that made me nod my head and let them pass me the inhaler. I got straight to inhaling it, and within the first ten or so inhalation I felt the pain relief start to kick in. It was good, it made me feel almost ten times better. Lucy was there the whole time, whispering sweet nothings into my ear as they medic attended to my legs and Sarina wrapped a blanket around my shivering upper half.

It was about five minutes before I was floating on a pain free drug induced cloud. When that happened they started to transfer me to the stretcher, with the help of Sarina, Lucy, Millie, Leah and the two medics. It was a touchy process, they were very clearly trying to keep the movement of my leg limited. The actual movement of getting me onto the stretcher had me screaming, pain relief or not it hurt insanely and I knew at that moment that my World Cup dreams were pretty much over. I cried the whole way to the ambulance. Lucy and my teammates had to desert me once I made it over to the sideline so they could finish off the game, eventually, along the way I passed out from the mixture of drugs and blood loss, something I was grateful for.

When I started to stir I had a headache but I felt warm. It took me a few seconds before I cracked my eyes, it was dark outside, my room was dark. But not so dark that I couldn’t make out everything around me, the lights from the hallway and machines giving me a steady source of light. The first thing that I saw was that a big percentage of the Lionesses were piled into the room, Georgia, Leah and Keira and piled onto a pull out sofa, Rachel, Millie and Mary sharing the spare cot beside me and a few of the other girls scattered in seats across the room. It was cute, looking at all of my teammates who were clearly gassed from the game but still here. Sarina and Lucy were slumped in the seats immediately to my side. Just as I let my eyes float over to Lucy her own blueish eyes tiredly connecting with my own. A tight lipped smile made its way to her mouth as she acknowledged me.

“Hey baby.”

Her voice was hushed, it was clear she was trying her hardest not to awaken any of our teammates. As she blinked away the sleep she slipped her glasses over her face, locking her eyes properly with me once the frames were slipped over her eyes. Her voice was enough to put more tears in my eyes, I was pretty sure I’d cried enough tears for about six people.

She stood up quietly, letting her hand fall to my face, gently rubbing a circle against my cheek. It was enough to have my lip trembling and my eyes darting across the room. Before I knew it I was a pleading staggering mess.

“Why me? Why now?”

Lucy’s facial expression just broke into a frown and I could feel her worrying from a few centimetres away from me. Before she said anything she pressed her lips to my forehead. I sobbed into her, not really worried about waking up any of our companions.

“I know sweetheart, I know, it’s okay, I’m going to be here for you every step of the way.”

My breaths came out in hiccups and the hospital gown I was in clung to my body with the sweat that I was producing from working myself up.

“How bad is it, did we win?”

My words came out in pieces, it sounded like my Spanish, which was very rough and not very consistent.

“No, but don’t worry about that. They relocated your knee, you had to have surgery on your leg but it’s just a metal plate and some stitches for the lacerations from Carpenter’s boot.”

I honestly felt bad for the Australian defender, she’d had it bad enough with the press for the last while, let alone getting someone else’s blood all over their cleats.

“So my world cup dream is over.”

Lucy let the words hang in the air for a few seconds, it solidified the words in the room.

“Hey, not necessarily. The doctor said that the surgery went really well, that the fracture was pretty minor and that he expects a speedy recovery. You could be back running in 4-6 weeks.”

Even Lucy didn’t sound that optimistic, it was clear she was trying her hardest but she was struggling.

“My fitness will be shot, 4-6 weeks off the pitch pre world cup practically guarantees my spot gone, even if I’m running, in what world would Sarina take the chance of putting me on the pitch.”

Lucy’s brow furrowed, it was hard to catch in the dim light but I managed to with my eyes adjusting to the darkness.

“I won’t have anyone putting my girl down, especially not you. You will be fine. I can’t promise you that you will make it back on the pitch, you will make it to Australia, if it’s the right fit. Maybe it won’t be, maybe that’s fate and I know that’s shit to accept, shit to get the short straw and I am so sorry that you are in that position. If I could switch with you I would. I would do anything for you and you know that, I’ll be here for you everyday, I will give up anything to make this easier for you, I can promise you that. I can promise that I’m here to be whatever you need. You need a shoulder to cry on? I’ve got two. You need someone to listen? I’ve got two working ears and great advice if you want it. You need someone to just be here for you? I will sit with you for as long as you need.”

Lucy’s words hit home for me. She had always been willing to do anything for me, she’d walk to the ends of the earth to do anything for me, she’d made that clear from when we’d first met. I’d been apprehensive from the beginning but she’d fought and fought until I’d given into her and when I had I’d fallen head over heels in love with the woman.

I moved myself over in the bed and patted down next to the space I’d left open beside me. Luc seemed apprehensive to begin with, her eyes darting between my leg and my eyes.

“Please, I just want my girlfriend to hug me, can I have that?”

Lucy bit her lip, she was clearly a little bit nervous about the idea but her slumped shoulders and tired eyes were enough to tell me that she was tired and just as needy as I was. Neither of us slept well without the other, on the rare occasion that we were separated we both struggled with the loss of contact.

“I’m not sure y/n/n, I don’t want to hurt your leg.”

She was so cute when she was nervous, her voice a nervous murmur. I put her worry to rest fairly quickly though, the pain meds were running through my veins and I was equally as tired.

“Luce, my bad leg is on the other side, I just need some contact, I need to feel loved and comfortable and this hospital bed is making that hard, so please, just hug your girlfriend.”

Lucy sighed and nodded at me, she couldn’t deny me, ever, I had her wrapped around my little finger.

“Alright, how about I slide behind you and you can rest against me?”

It took a little bit of push and shove and some wincing and pain on my side but eventually we got Lucy situated behind me, up against the pillows. I was resting comfortably against her chest and stomach, my head resting in her neck. It was everything I’d needed to make me feel a little bit better and once we’d both gotten settled I smiled up at her gratefully. She pressed her lips to my forehead, I swore that I could feel the compassion behind it but maybe that was the morphine speaking.

“I love you.”

She’d smiled down in that goofy way that she did when I gave her a compliment. Lucy was a goofball, it was one of the things that I loved about her. She was always laughing and making people around her laugh, she was just full of good energy and it made me a better person.

“I love you too, my love, always, get some rest. It’s all going to be okay.”

#woso #lionesses #leah williamson #marry me rn #woso community #lucy bronze #lucy bronze x reader #millie bright #sarina wiegman #lionesses x reader #injury #i love some hurt/comfort #little bit sad #we love a supportive girlfriend

[yourdailyqueer]

Molly Cameron

Gender: Transgender woman

Sexuality: N/A

DOB: 28 August 1976

Ethnicity: White - American

Occupation: Prof cyclo-cross athlete, activist

Note: First openly transgender athlete to compete in a (Men's Category) UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup

#Molly Cameron #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbt athletes #lgbt+ #transgender #trans woman #1976 #white #athlete #cycling #cyclo cross #activist #first #popular #popular post

[wouteke]

How do you learn what a feeling means?

Frame Text: How to Draw a Horse by Emma Hunsinger References: Podium at Super Prestige Diem (2011) | "Aux racines de la rivalité entre Mathieu Van der Poel et Wout Van Aert" (L'Equipe) | Podium at Cyclocross World Championships Juniors (2012) | Wout trailing Mathieu at at Cyclocross World Championships Juniors (2012) | Podium at Cyclocross World Championships Elite (2017) | Wout winning an unknown race | "Van Aert: Van der Poel has always motivated me to beat him" (Cycling News) | Podium at Cyclocross World Cup Hoogerheide (2016) | Podium at Cyclocross World Championships Elite (2015) | Cyclocross Otegem Start Line (2017) | "Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert: The anatomy of a rivalry" (Cycling News) | Otegem (2017) | "Mathieu van der Poel en Wout van Aert, de koningen van de cross: 'Als je niet kunt afzien, moet je gaan voetballen'" (Humo) | Otegem (2017) | Cyclocross Otegem Start Line (2018) | Cyclocross Valkenburg World Cup (2016) | "LOENHOUT: Super Van Aert wins a Trofee 'super modder' + MORE PHOTOS & TV COVERAGE" (Cyclocross Rider) | "The van der Poel-van Aert rivalry: 'It’s impossible for us to be friends'" (Le Course en Tête) | Podium at 18th Superprestige Heusden-Zolder Elite (2022) | Wout and Mathieu after an unknown race (2014) | Mathieu and Wout during the Cyclocross World Championships (2016) | Wout touching Mathieu's back after the Cyclocross World Cup Namur (2020) | Wout and Mathieu after the Tour of Flanders (2020) | Wout and Mathieu after the UCI World Championships - Road (2023)

#wout van aert #mathieu van der poel #You can imagine.how much timethis took.

[etapereine]

Out Walking + Wout van Aert & Mathieu van der Poel

Out Walking ©Jennifer Horne | 2021 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships ©SWPix | 2015 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships ©Bettini | 2017 Cyclocross Otegem ©Belga | 2023 Paris-Roubaix ©Profimedia | 2021 Tour de France ©Photo News | 2023 UCI Cyclo-cross WOrld Championships ©David Stockman/Getty Images | 2024 UCI World Cup Benidorm ©Gaëtan Flamme/SportPic Agency

#mathieu van der poel #wout van aert #cycling poetry #it takes two to tango

[marcelskittels]

Mathieu van der Poel of The Netherlands and Alpecin-Deceuninck in action during the UCI World Cup Besançon 2023 - Men’s Elite on January 29, 2023 in Besançon, France. (Photo David Pintens/Belga MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

#mathieu van der poel #alpecin deceuninck #cyclocross #cx world cup

[secondskin007]

"File:2016 2017 UCI Track World Cup Apeldoorn 167.jpg" by Nicola is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

#skinsuit #lycra bulge #lycra #bibshorts #cycling bulge #guys in lycra #skintight #beardsandtattoos #bib shorts #lycra spandex #spandex

[flourbray]

UCI world cup Zonhoven 2024

#laurens did you enjoy your trip #laurens sweeck #joris nieuwenhuis #mathieu van der poel

[pubcapscott]

Race Tapes returns to Red Bull TV

View On WordPress

#cross #downhill #elite #Evie Richards #Finn Iles #Greg Minnaar #Jackson Goldstone #Jolanda Neff #Loïc Bruni #Loris Vergier #Mathias Flückiger #mountain biking #Nino Schurter #Puck Pieterse #Race Tapes #Rachel Atherton #racing #Red Bull #Red Bull TV #road cycling #Trek #Trek Factory Racing #UCI #Vali Höll #World Cup

[tadejpogacar]

A silhouette of a rider during the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Maasmechelen 2023 - Men's Elite on October 29, 2023 in Maasmechelen, Belgium. (Photos by Luc Claessen/Getty Images)

#cyclocross #veldrijden #uci cyclo-cross world cup 2023

[a-sportygoldfish]

2nd for Wout in the UCI WORLD CUP GAVERE

#road cycling #cycling #sports #jumbo visma #team jumbo visma #wout van aert #cx world cup #cyclocross

[anythingeverythingm]

The year 2024 is expected to be one of the best years for sport fans due to the many events taking place. Whether you are a fan or simply want to know what is happening here is a little recap of the major sporting events taking place that you might find interesting. (I will be mostly talking about the international ones and the european ones as well as the ones i will be following closely)

2024 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (which is ending on the 5th of January) 2023–24 Four Hills Tournament ( which is ending on the 6th of January) 2024 United Cup (which is ending on the 7th of January) 2023–24 Tour de Ski (which is ending on the 7th of January) 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship (4-16 January) 2024 European Speed Skating Championships (5-7 January) 2024 Women's European Water Polo Championship (5-13 January) 2024 Dakar Rally (5-19 January) 2024 European Figure Skating Championships (8-14 January) 2024 European Men's Handball Championship (10-28 January) 2023 AFC Asian Cup (12 January - 10 February) 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (13 January - 11 February) 2024 Australian Open (15-28 January) 2024 Winter Youth Olympics (19 January – 2 February) World Junior Alpine Skiing Championships 2024 (30 January – 3 February) 2024 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (30 January – 4 February) 2024 Six Nations Championship (2 February – 16 March) 2024 World Junior Figure Skating Championships (26 February – 3 March) 2024 Miami Open (17–31 March) 2024 World Figure Skating Championships (18–24 March) 2024 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships (24–28 April) 2024 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships (2-5 May) 2024 Giro d'Italia (UCI World Tour) (4–26 May) 2024 French Open (26 May −8 June)

UEFA Euro 2024 (14 June–14 July) 2024 Copa América (20 June–14 July) 2024 Tour de France (UCI World Tour) (29 June–21 July) 2024 Wimbledon Championships (1-14 July) 2024 Summer Olympics (26 July–11 August) 2024 US Open (26 August–8 September) 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup (14 September–6 October) 2024 European Women's Handball Championship (28 November–15 December)

All the FIFA Cups held this year: 12 January—10 February Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup, in Qatar 13 January—11 February Ivory Coast 2023 AFCON, in Ivory Coast 14 June—14 July United States 2024 Copa América, in United States 31 August–22 September Colombia 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, in Colombia 16 October–3 November Dominican Republic 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, in Dominican Republic June South Korea 2024 Suwon JS Cup in Suwon, South Korea December 2024 Thailand 2024 King's Cup in Thailand December 2024 Kuwait 26th Arabian Gulf Cup in Kuwait

UEFA finals: 2024 UEFA Europa League final (22 May) 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final (29 May) 2024 UEFA Champions League final (1 June)

Formula One (29 February - 8 December) and the support series F1 Academy (7 March - 8 December) MotoGP (8 March - 17 November) and the support series

What are you most excited for?

#sport #sports #football #motogp #formula 1 #euro 2024 #olympics #handball #tennis #road cycling #figure skating #rugby #2024

[coochiequeens]

All but three were before 2017. Once it was 2018/2019 season the victories for transwomen exploded.

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

A biological male athlete who identifies as transgender as well as transgender activists recently stated grievances against sports-governing bodies like the NCAA for “regressing” from “efforts to create a safe and inclusive environment” for male athletes who identify as transgender. 

The complaints come despite an increasing number of girls’ and women’s sporting events being dominated by biological males.

The Washington Stand has found that there have been at least 28 separate girls and women’s sports titles that have been won by biological males (or have included biological men as part of a winning women’s team) in the last 19 years, with the trend accelerating exponentially in the past three years.

These events include:

— Downhill mountain biking Canadian National Championships in 2003.

— Long Drivers of America women’s competition in 2008. 

— Trofee Maarten Wynants cycling race in 2015. 

— 2018 and 2019 UCI World Masters Track Cycling Championships. 

— 2019 national championship for bench press. 

— Two Commonwealth Championships (2017 and 2019) and one Pacific Games championship (2019) in weightlifting.

— Division II NCAA championship 400-meter hurdles in 2019. 

— 100- and 200-meter high school Connecticut state championships in 2018. 

— 100- and 200-meter high school New England regional championships in 2018. 

— Two mountain bike New Zealand national championships in 2018 and 2019. 

— 100-, 200-, and 400-meter races at the Italian Paralympic national championships in 2020.

— Volleyball Brazilian Cup in 2022. 

— Six Ivy League swimming championship titles in 2022. 

— 500-yard Division I NCAA swimming championship in 2022.

These titles do not include the multiple second place, third place, and other finishing spots in women’s events awarded to biological males that would have been won by biological females had the events been for biological females only.

In one of the most recent examples, which many are seeing as a symbolically poignant moment that encapsulates the debate over the fairness of biological males competing in women’s sports, two men were pictured kissing each other on the winner’s podium for the women’s ThunderCrit cycling event in London on June 2. 

The men had placed first and second in the event, with a biological woman placing third. As reported by The Post Millennial, the male winner of the event had won male cycling competitions “as recently as February” 2022.

A growing number of female athletes are voicing their concerns about letting biological males compete in women’s events. Before University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas—who is a biological male who spent three years on the men’s team—won the women’s 500-yard Division I NCAA swimming championship in March, 16 women on Penn’s swim team wrote a letter saying that Thomas should not be allowed to compete women’s events.

“Biologically, Lia holds an unfair advantage over competition in the women’s category, as evidenced by her rankings that have bounced from #462 as a male to #1 as a female,” the letter said.

Mary Szoch, director of Family Research Council’s Center for Human Dignity, agrees. 

“After three years of trying and failing to make the basketball team at the University of Notre Dame, finally, my senior year, I earned a jersey and the very last seat on the bench,” she noted. “Had the NCAA made ‘accommodations’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, I would have never had the opportunity to accomplish my dream of playing for a National Championship. No woman should be forced to sit in the stands because a male takes her spot on the floor.”

Recent poll results indicate that the American public largely agrees with this sentiment. When asked in a poll commissioned by FRC Action if biological males should be allowed to compete against biological females in women’s K-12 and college sports, a significant majority (61%) disagreed, while just 18% agreed.

Originally published by The Washington Stand

The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email [email protected] and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

#Women’s sports are for women #Title IX #conservative men don’t care about women #Conservative men just use fake concern over women’s spaces to attack the gender cult #But at least they acknowledge that men and women are different