Just under two weeks ago, Lia Thomas, a male athlete who believes he is a woman, was nominated for the NCAA’s “Woman of the Year” award.
On Monday, his controversial bid for the award ended unceremoniously.
The NCAA revealed the list of women who were selected by conference offices to advance further in the contest. Sylvie Binder, an accomplished fencer from Columbia University, was selected for The Ivy League over Lia Thomas.
Binder won a 2019 NCAA Championship in women’s foil, Fox News reported. This season, she finished third at the NCAA Championships with a record of 17-6.
She won the Connie S. Maniatty Award in 2022, which is given annually to the top senior student-athlete at Columbia. She is also a woman, which makes her imminently more qualified for the “Woman of the Year” award than Thomas.
Out of 577 initial nominees for the award, conference officials shrunk the field down to 151 athletes on Monday. Thomas was one of the 426 athletes who did not make the cut.
Many conservatives celebrated Monday’s announcement on Twitter as a win for women.
“Lia Thomas was beaten out of the ‘Woman of The Year’ Award by an actual woman,” conservative commentator Tomi Lahren wrote on Twitter,. “How unwoke!!!!”
Lia Thomas was beaten out of the “Woman of The Year” Award by an actual woman. How unwoke!!!!
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) July 26, 2022
Author Nick Adams called the development “GREAT NEWS,” and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn said the NCAA might have figured out Thomas is not actually a woman.
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas gets beat out for woman of the year by Columbia University fencer Sylvie Binder, GREAT NEWS!
— Nick Adams (@NickAdamsinUSA) July 26, 2022
Lia Thomas lost the bid for NCAA’s ‘Woman of the Year’ — maybe they finally figured out she isn’t a woman?
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 27, 2022
These Republicans are absolutely correct. Thomas is not a woman, and she had no business even being nominated for this award instead of female athletes.
To be clear, Thomas’ elimination from consideration for this award does not magically fix everything. He still stole a national championship from female swimmers earlier this year, and the NCAA allowed it to happen.
Furthermore, the NCAA made it clear that conference officials were the ones who selected the 151 nominees to advance in the contest. If the NCAA made the decision itself, there is no telling whether Thomas would have been selected.
Are you happy to hear Thomas will not win this award?
Make no mistake: The NCAA is still woke, and women’s sports in still in danger as long as males are allowed to compete against females.
With that said, Monday’s announcement provided hope that at least some individuals in college athletics respect women and want to maintain the integrity of this award.
