LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) 鈥 Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has asked a Swiss sports court to overturn rules imposed by World Aquatics that stop her competing in elite women鈥檚 races and she says are discrimination.
The on Friday it registered Thomas鈥 request but no date for a hearing was decided. Confidentiality around a case begun in September was lifted after it was reported in British media.
鈥淢s Thomas seeks an order from the CAS declaring that the (World Aquatics rules) are unlawful, invalid, and of no force and effect,鈥 said the court based in the Olympic home city of Lausanne, Switzerland.
that banned transgender women who have been through male puberty from competing in women鈥檚 races. It also created an 鈥渙pen鈥 category for which transgender athletes would be eligible.
Other Olympic sports bodies and cycling have since adopted similar rules which supporters say acknowledge physical advantages from male puberty that athletes retain long term after transitioning.
Swimming鈥檚 rules were agreed months after Thomas, then a student at the University of Pennsylvania, in the 500-yard freestyle. Thomas鈥 results in women鈥檚 races exceeded her previous results in men鈥檚 races.
Though the NCAA championships were held outside the World Aquatics system, Thomas said she hoped one day to compete in U.S. Olympic trials.
鈥淢s Thomas accepts that fair competition is a legitimate sporting objective and that some regulation of transgender women in swimming is appropriate,鈥 the Swiss court said.
鈥淗owever, Ms Thomas submits that the (rules) are invalid and unlawful as they discriminate against her,鈥 CAS said, citing 鈥渢he Olympic Charter, the World Aquatics Constitution, and Swiss law including the European Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.鈥
Thomas argued 鈥渟uch discrimination cannot be justified as necessary, reasonable, or proportionate to achieve a legitimate sporting objective,鈥 the court said.
CAS cases are typically heard by three judges 鈥 selected each by the rival parties and the court itself 鈥 who could yet decline jurisdiction.
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