In a shocking turn of events, former swimmer Riley Gaines has filed a $2 million lawsuit against fellow athlete Lia Thomas, claiming that Thomas “took everything” from her.
According to Gaines, she was once a promising swimmer with dreams of Olympic glory. However, all of that changed when Thomas came onto the scene.
Gaines claims that Thomas’s transgender identity gave her an unfair advantage over other swimmers and that she was able to beat Gaines even though Gaines had trained harder and was a better swimmer overall.
“She just came in and took over,” Gaines said in a tearful interview with reporters. “I worked so hard for so many years, and then Lia Thomas comes along and takes everything from me. It’s not fair.”
Gaines’s lawsuit seeks damages for lost opportunities and emotional distress, claiming that Thomas’s success has caused Gaines to suffer depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues.
The lawsuit also calls for a ban on transgender athletes in competitive swimming, arguing that they have an inherent advantage over their cisgender counterparts.
Not surprisingly, Thomas and her supporters have fired back at Gaines’s lawsuit, calling it baseless and discriminatory.
They argue that Thomas’s success is due to her hard work and talent, not her gender identity and that Gaines is simply looking for someone to blame for her own failures.
“This is a classic case of sour grapes,” said one of Thomas’s coaches. “Riley Gaines couldn’t hack it in the competition, so now she’s trying to tear Lia down. It’s sad, but it’s not going to work.”
The lawsuit is expected to be a long and contentious battle, with both sides digging in their heels and refusing to back down.
In the meantime, the swimming world is left to wonder what will happen next and whether transgender athletes will continue to be a lightning rod for controversy and discrimination.
