Former US Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson admitted in a recent interview that, although she is a lifelong Democrat, she had hopes for Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency because of his stance on protecting women and girls in sports.
Trump’s promise to end trans inclusion in women’s sports was a key sticking point in his campaign. Pro-Trump campaign ads during the election season portrayed Vice President Kamala Harris as being cornered for transgender women to run against biological women. Trump even called trans inclusion in women’s sports policies “far away.”
It was to that point that Thompson found himself rooting for him.
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Inga Thompson trains for the women’s road race at the World Cycling Championships in September 1986 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (David Madison/Getty Images)
“I don’t want my boyfriend to hear this, because we’re both Democrats. I used to hate Trump, because I come from Reno, Nevada, and I’m close to the casinos,” she told The Telegraph. “I grew up with a lot of people who were into video games and we hated Trump. I knew people who made deals with him and then he backed out. The first time he ran for office, I was making fun of him. .
“This time, my position is, ‘If he is going to protect women, I will vote for him.’ This is the biggest threat to women that I can think of in my generation and I have to vote for women.”
Thompson is one of the former athletes who has led the fight to keep biological males out of women’s sports. Those opinions cost her a manager’s position on a cycling team after she called on cyclists to protest against the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) transgender athletes policy in 2023.
Thompson told the newspaper that she was upset with Democrats for supporting trans inclusion in women’s sports.
“Didn’t they learn their lesson at the Olympics about how deaf they are, how blind they are to what they’re doing to women?” she said. “I’m angry at the party, being a Democrat myself, because they continue to throw women under the bus. It would have been very easy for them to allow common sense to return. But they won’t. It’s the final straw.” .
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From left, Jeannie Longo of France, Valerie Simmonet of France and Inga Thompson of the USA celebrate on the podium after the Vail Criterium stage of the Coors International Bicycle Classic on August 11, 1985, in Vail, Colorado. (David Madison/Getty Images)
Thompson said he didn’t think it was a “right-wing Republican issue.” She said the only thing she and Democrats like her want is “balance.”
“None of us are radicals, we just have common sense. After their response to the Law on the Protection of Women in Sports, they have lost me forever. That’s when you realize that the party has lost its way,” he added.
Thompson is far from the only Democrat who is against this particular policy. A New York Times/Ipsos poll released over the weekend found that a majority of Democrats also don’t believe transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.
“Thinking about transgender athletes, that is, athletes who were male at birth but currently identify as female, do you think they should or should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports?” the survey asked.
Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said that biological men who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports.
Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or Democratic-leaning, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Some of that was seen in the House of Representatives earlier this month, when two Democrats voted alongside Republican lawmakers to ban athletes born male from participating on girls’ school sports teams.
The Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act, spearheaded by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., would amend federal law to specify that student athletes must participate on school sports teams that match their gender at birth.
The bill will go to the Senate.
