Gender eligibility in sports has frequently stoked furious debate on social media, with a recent torrent of posts claiming Olympic gold medallist Mollie O'Callaghan announced she would not participate in the 2028 Games if transgender swimmer Lia Thomas were allowed to compete. But there is no evidence O'Callaghan made the remarks, which the Swimming Australia organisation branded as "fabricated".
Gender eligibility in sports has frequently stoked furious debate on social media, with a recent torrent of posts claiming Olympic gold medallist Mollie O'Callaghan announced she would not participate in the 2028 Games if transgender swimmer Lia Thomas were allowed to compete. But there is no evidence O'Callaghan made the remarks, which the Swimming Australia organisation branded as "fabricated".
"I (like most thinking Australians) are with you all the way girl," reads an October 13, 2025, Facebook post from an Australia-based user, resharing content from a page that claims to publish sports updates.
"I will not participate in the 2028 Olympics if that man, Lia Thomas, is allowed to compete," says a graphic in the reshared post, attributing the remarks to O'Callaghan.
Thousands of users from Australia, the United States, Britain and the Philippines shared similar claims, which proliferated also on TikTok and X.
They went on to say the Australian swimmer, a five-time Olympic gold medallist, had said in an interview that "sharing a pool with Lia Thomas is truly an insult and a disgrace" (archived link).
US swimmer Thomas, the first transgender athlete to win a top-tier US university title, had attempted to overturn a World Aquatics vote in 2022 that stopped transgender women from competing in women's elite races if they had gone through any stage of the process of male puberty (archived link).
But the 26-year-old's case was dismissed in June 2024 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport -- effectively dashing her hopes of competing in the Olympics.
A policy change in July 2025 by the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee has also banned transgender women from competing in women's events (archived link).
There is no evidence O'Callaghan issued the statement about potentially competing with Thomas in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Swimming Australia, the highest governing body for swimming in Australia, said the quotes attributed to O'Callaghan were "fabricated" (archived link).
"At no stage has O'Callaghan been interviewed and provided commentary on transgender athletes," it said in an October 12 statement provided to AFP, adding that both O'Callaghan and Swimming Australia have requested to Meta for "the posts to be taken down".
AFP also cannot find evidence of O'Callaghan making the purported remarks in credible media reports or on her official Instagram account (archived link).
The Australian Associated Press has also debunked the fake posts attributed to her (archived link).
AFP has previously fact-checked claims regarding trans issues in sports.
Category: General Sports
