Total Pro Sports
Simone Biles has been slammed for her feud with Riley Gaines after the seven-time Olympic gold medalist attacked the former swimmer over her protests against trans athletes.
ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith has taken sides in the debate, and he largely agreed with Riley Gaines amid the former NCAA All-American swimmer’s feud with the Olympic gold medalist.
Smith spoke out on Monday, just days after Biles launched into a personal attack on Gaines after the former Kentucky Wildcats star criticized a Minnesota softball league for turning off comments on a photo showing a state championship team that had a transgender player on its roster.
Smith did not agree with Gaines using Larry Nassar against Biles, but he did agree with her overall point.
“With that being said, the points you made to Simone Biles outside of the Larry Nassar comment, that should give us all cause for pause,” he said on “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”
“The reality is that it is a disservice to women in a lot of people’s eyes, that men transitioning to women get to compete in women’s sports. Lia Thomas was a perfect example. Her highest ranking at the time … highest ranking as a male participant was like 554th in the world. He transitioned into being a woman and was top 10. That speaks for itself.
“And the reality is there’s an abundance of women out there who have a right to feel the way Riley Gaines feels, Simone Biles. Now, whether it’s right for me or someone else to say it is a different argument. But in the age that we’re living in with Title IX in existence, with us being protective of fairness and equal rights and equal opportunity to women to then piggyback off of that and following up on that years later to allow transgender athletes transitioning from male to female to compete against women doesn’t appear to be fair.”
Smith also dismissed any notion that the debate over transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports was more than just on-field competition.
“When we lean on this argument about fear, fear – wait a minute. Somebody’s not talking about your civil liberties, somebody’s not talking about equality, somebody’s not talking about those things allowing you to live and let live,” he said.
“They’re talking about competition in sports. And if you allow somebody to compete in swimming, it’s not gonna stop you from competing in boxing. It’s not gonna allow you to stop you from competing in other sports.”
Smith brought up the discussions around Ronda Rousey taking on Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a fight when both athletes were the talk of the sports world.
“We know that in most instances, even though there are women that could beat some men out there, by and large, the elite women don’t deserve to be competing against the elite men,” he said. “By deserve … I’m talking about based on their gender. You shouldn’t be competing against...
