Olympic gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock has weighed in on the debate surrounding transgender athletes in women’s sport.
Mensah-Stock, who won gold for the United States in freestyle wrestling at the Tokyo games, revealed she would never compete against a biological male.
However, that doesn’t mean she’s ruled out ever wrestling a man, admitting that she has gone up against biological males in training.
‘No, thank goodness. But I know a few people that have,’ Mensah-Stock told Fox News, when asked if she had ever competed against the opposite gender.
‘Well, I’ll just say this. I’ve wrestled plenty of guys in practice and I will only wrestle them in practice — because wrestling men is very, very difficult even when they are 20 pounds smaller than me,’ she added. ‘So, like if they’re the same weight as me… I just keep it in practice.’
Mensah-Stock, who became the first Black female to win the Olympic golf in freestyle wrestling, signed with WWE in May.
Tamyra Mensah-Stock has weighed in on the debate surrounding transgender athletes
The Olympic gold medalist revealed she would never compete against a biological male
Under the name ‘Tyra Mae Steele,’ she had her first televised match on the July 2 ‘NXT Level Up’, where she was defeated by Wren Sinclair.
The topic of transgender athletes competing in women’s sport sparked a mass debate in the sporting world at the Olympic games in Paris this summer.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, along with Taiwan ‘s Lin Yu-ting, was at the center of a gender controversy over the summer when they won Olympic gold as women after being accused of being biologically male .
Last month, the issue over Khelif’s gender was thrust back into the spotlight following a leaked medical report in the German tabloid, Bild , claiming she is a ‘biological male’ and has male characteristics.
Following the Olympics, Khelif filed a cyberbullying complaint in France that reportedly named critics like JK Rowling and Elon Musk, among others – a legal action that Navratilova poked fun at on X.
Last week, the LPGA – the highest-ranking tour in women’s golf – changed its gender policy, effectively barring trans players from competing.
From 2025, players will be required to be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to compete in LPGA tournaments or the eight USGA championships for women.
The move came after months of backlash and criticism from female professionals, who urged the tour to change its rulebook as trans player Hailey Davidson attempted to earn her card.
Meanwhile, women’s college volleyball has been rocked by controversy throughout the season as several Mountain West conference schools have forfeited games against San Jose State.
Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State, Nevada and Southern Utah forfeited matches against SJSU due to supposed safety concerns surrounding Blaire Fleming, who is believed to be a biological male.
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