One of Ireland's greatest athletes has said that transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in women's sports as the huge debate rages on social media.
Sonia O'Sullivan is one of Ireland's most recognised Olympians and won a gold medal in the 5000m at the 1995 World Championships and a silver medal in the same event at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
She has given her views in an Irish Times column and on the radio this week, receiving huge traction for her views.
The column revolves around transgender American swimmer Lia Thomas, who has received huge backlash for competing in the NCAA college swimming championship, an event Thomas won. The event was the women’s 500-yard freestyle last week.
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas wins women's 500-yard NCAA title https://t.co/CByM9hzCaQ pic.twitter.com/SdudljvjTK
— New York Post (@nypost) March 17, 2022
O'Sullivan mentioned that transgender athletes who have been born male should not be allowed to compete in women’s events as they have an unfair physiological advantage.
O'Sullivan also appeared on Newstalk's The Hard Shoulder to discuss her point of view.
Without a doubt, they have an unfair advantage. They take hormones to reduce their testosterone levels, but that's just one factor. O'Sullivan claimed
"There's so many other factors in male adults compared to female adults that make them stronger.
"They're at a different level of ability compared to women; you can't compete.
"When you've already separated the sports into men's and women's sports, then to allow a variable in that the balance is then thrown off, it just doesn't make sense for that to happen without considering the women who are already in the sport who have been competing and training... throughout their lives.
"All of a sudden they've got to face somebody who's just decided—they obviously decide for very personal reasons why they change—but then to also take part in sport, which is for women.".
The former Olympian also argued that political correctness is harming other athletes by forgetting others.
"We're in a world now where everything is politically correct, and we try to say and do things that are politically correct, she said
"But I think sometimes, by doing that, we kind of forget the people who were in a position already.
"So it's the nuances that are out there that we adapt to, but we forget about what was there already.
"So why are we not protecting everybody, rather than just protecting the people who are changing?
Sonia O'Sullivan continued to trend on Twitter last night for her claims.
'They're at a different level of ability' - Sonia O'Sullivan says transgender athletes 'without a doubt' have an unfair advantage in sport. @TheHardShoulderhttps://t.co/SsyD6Ardxq
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) March 24, 2022
