Former star gymnast slams USA Gymnastics for trans athlete policy handling

Fox News

a day ago

USA Gymnastics is under the national microscope after its biggest star, Simone Biles, ignited mass backlash for attacking Riley Gaines over the issue of trans athletes in women's sports. Biles has since apologized for her remarks against Gaines, but the impact of public perception to her and the organization is only just setting in.
Former Team USA and NCAA champion women's gymnast Dee Worley, spoke out against USA Gymnastics after it was revealed that the organization's webpages outlining its transgender athlete policy and resources were offline, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Worley, a former USA Gymnastics athlete and board member, revealed in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital her thoughts on the state of leadership for the nation's governing gymnastics body, as the U.S. is set to host the next Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
"I think there's been a steady decline in its ability to have backbone and its leaders' ability to have backbone for some time now," Worley said of the organization and its recent quiet distancing from trans inclusion policies. "When you don't have principles that you are willing to be dyed in the wool about and be ten toes down about, then you are going to blow with every wind."
Worley, who competed for the U.S. national team as early as high school in the late 1980s, made history at the University of Alabama as a 17-time All-American, a four-time champion and a nine-time regional champion. As a senior in 1993, she set an NCAA record with perfect 10's in five consecutive meets. She later says she served as a USA gymnastics board member.
And she went so far as to say the organization is exhibiting "cowardice," with its past stance and currently unclear stance on the issue now.
"I don't like their cowardice in any instance. Whether it means they have the trans information up in the first place or they took it down when it got hot in the kitchen. I don't admire cowardice and I think you know find your position stand on it, but be ready for the fight if you are standing on an issue that is going to be at the detriment of women in your sport who have made your sport what it is," Worley said.
Previous links to three of the organization's pages outlining its transgender eligibility policies are currently offline. When the pages were officially taken offline is currently unknown.
One link previously led to a November 2020 announcement that the organization no longer required trans athletes to undergo sex reassignment, legal gender recognition, and hormone therapy in order to compete in the gender category of their choosing, as seen in an archive by the Wayback Machine. That page still shows up in search results, but the link now goes to a 404 error page.
Another link previously went to a three-page PDF pamphlet of USA Gymnastics guidelines for transgender and non-binary athletes, as seen in a Wayback Machine archive. That link is now inaccessible, but is still a top result on search engines.
Another link previously went to a nine-page PDF USA Gymnastics pamphlet titled "Transgender Athlete Inclusion Resources: Supporting Transgender and Non-Binary Athletes," as seen in a Wayback Machine archive. That link is also no longer accessible.
Worley predicts that the organization will announce an official amendment to its policy, but not one that goes far enough as she'd like.
"I predict they will amend the language leaving lots of loopholes and flexibility for them to be just nebulous enough for them to change their minds if and when the time comes," Worley said.
"I think they are very pressure driven an externally focus driven instead of being principle driven. So you cannot depend on any organization that does not stand on anything or have actual values that they refused to bend on."
Fox News Digital has reached out to USA Gymnastics for comment.
For Worley, the organization's recent stance in letting biological males compete in the women's category represents a leftward political shift by the organization in recent years. She believes it began in after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"When I was a part of USA Gymnastics it was really rigid… USA Gymnastics was really about being team USA. It was about representing the United States well," Worley said of when she competed in the 90s and early 2000s.
"So that's my recollection of it and it has gone way left now. In my opinion, USA Gymnastics has been absolutely plaqued by incredibly faulty leadership for many, many years and has also bent its knee to the woke mob. Which is unfortunate because it has nothing to do with gymnastics."
Worley recalls a shift by the organization de-prioritizing the protection of athletes after the public treatment of Gabby Douglas at the 2008 summer games.
"I did notice that and that was kind of the tipping point for me, I noticed some type of fall off in terms of the protection of the athletes," Worley said.
Other major Team USA sport governing bodies have quietly amended their transgender policies amid rising opposition to trans inclusion in women's and girls' sports.
USA Track and Field (USATF) official transgender eligibility policy now references the World Athletics guidelines on its official webpage.
USATF previously referenced the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s policy, as seen in an archive via Wayback Machine.
The IOC allows biological males to compete in the women's category, while World Athletics bans any athlete who has undergone male puberty from competing as a woman.
USA Fencing announced in April that it is preparing to change its gender-eligibility policy, after a viral protest by women's fencer Stephanie Turner sparked mass backlash and federal intervention by protesting a trans opponent.
The organization said it is preparing to amend its current policies that allow biological males to compete with women and girls in the event that it is "forced" to change it.
"In the event that USA Fencing is forced to change its current stance in accordance with oversight bodies or federal legislation, the new policy states athletes competing in USA Fencing-sanctioned tournaments must compete according to their biological sex," the announcement read.
The proposed updated policy ensures that the women's category "will be open exclusively to athletes of the female sex." The men's category "will be open to all other athletes who are otherwise eligible for competition."
Worley hopes that the next generation of gymnasts can help contribute to substantial change in their governing body.
"If any female gymnasts are in a position where there is a male competitor who is claiming to be a female and wanting to compete against females, I would say to them 'push back,'" Worley said.
"One don't compete if you opt out there is no one for them to compete against. Two really put pressure on the governing body who is supposed to have your back. Supposed to be supporting you of your progression in the sport. Don't let them get away with checking the woke mob box and doing whatever they think they should be doing for optics for a very small percentage of the population at the sacrifice and compromise of your career."
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