The declare: The NCAA is giving Lia Thomas’ swimming medals to Riley Gaines
A Nov. 29 Fb submit (direct hyperlink, archive hyperlink) exhibits photographs of swimmers Riley Gaines and Lia Thomas above the headline of a purported information story.
“NCAA To Switch Medals from Lia Thomas to Riley Gaines,” reads the headline.
Many commenters handled it as respectable information.
“Good for you Riley. You deserve them. You additionally deserve medals for being a incredible advocate and function mannequin for girls in all places,” one commenter wrote.
“Unhappy she needed to struggle for it out of the pool,” wrote one other.
It was shared greater than 10,000 occasions in 10 days.
Extra from the USA TODAY Truth Examine Group:
Our score: Satire
Each an NCAA spokesperson and the writer of the web site that posted the story mentioned it’s false. It was posted by an account that states in its bio that it posts satirical content material. The caption incorporates a hyperlink to a narrative that’s labeled as satire.
Declare originated on satirical web site
Thomas grew to become the primary transgender athlete to assert a nationwide title on the NCAA’s prime stage when she gained the ladies’s 500-yard freestyle on the 2022 Division I championship. Gaines, additionally a former collegiate swimmer, has been important of the group’s resolution to permit Thomas to compete in opposition to her and has turn into a vocal opponent of transgender ladies collaborating in ladies’s sports activities, most just lately testifying Dec. 6 earlier than a Home subcommittee concerning the difficulty.
Truth verify: Worldwide federation claimed to have banned Lia Thomas disbanded in 1934
The declare that the NCAA mentioned it could give Thomas’ medals to Gaines is fake. It was posted by the satirical account SpaceXMania, and website writer Tim Lawson confirmed in an e-mail to USA TODAY that the story is a fabrication.
The account’s bio states that the web site makes a speciality of satire and humor. The story linked within the caption is clearly marked as satire, and the creator’s biography states that he “is understood for his satirical writing.”
NCAA spokesperson Greg Johnson additionally informed USA TODAY the declare is fake.
“The outcomes of the race are last,” Johnson mentioned in an e-mail.
The story doesn’t specify which of Thomas’ awards the NCAA purportedly claimed it could current to Gaines.
They tied for fifth place within the ladies’s 200-yard freestyle on the NCAA championships in 2022, with Thomas swimming for the College of Pennsylvania and Gaines representing the College of Kentucky.
A better have a look at one key element within the story additionally reveals it to be a fabrication. The NCAA awards trophies – not medals – to its champions and excessive finishers. Images taken following the ladies’s 200-yard freestyle race in query present each Thomas and Gaines holding trophies.
USA TODAY has debunked a number of false claims about Thomas and Gaines, together with assertions that the NCAA stripped Thomas of her title and that Gaines was awarded $1.2 million and a assured berth within the 2024 championship.
The Related Press additionally debunked the declare.
Our fact-check sources:
Greg Johnson, Dec. 8, E-mail trade with USA TODAY
Tim Lawson, Dec. 7, E-mail trade with USA TODAY
Icon Sportswire, March 18, 2022, Picture #6385336
Icon Sportswire, March 18, 2022, Picture #6385337
Swimmeetresults, March 16-19, 2022, 2022 NCAA DI Ladies’s Swimming & Diving
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This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA did not say it is reallocating trans swimmer’s medals | Truth verify
