Washington, DC, Aug. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Georgia Senate Special Select Committee on Women’s Sports Will Include
NCAA Athlete Testimonies
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) applauds the Georgia state Senate for establishing a Special Select Committee on Women’s Sports. Led by Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Ga.), the committee will commence ground-breaking hearings on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, at the Georgia State Capitol, and address the erosion of integrity and fairness in women’s sports.
The hearings will scrutinize the events of the 2022 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships held at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The testimonies of five NCAA All-American Women Athletes will also be included: Riley Gaines (University of Kentucky), Reka Gyorgy (Virginia Tech University), Kylee Alons (North Carolina State University), Grace Countie (University of North Carolina), and Kaitlynn Wheeler (University of Kentucky). The athletes will share firsthand experiences of the injustice and discomfort they endured due to the actions of Georgia Tech and the NCAA, highlighting the critical need for immediate corrective action.
The 2022 NCAA events were marked by controversy over swimmer Lia Thomas's participation, who joined the women’s team after competing for three years on the men’s team and won the women’s 500-yard freestyle. This policy decision, widely criticized as unjust, affected female competitors, including three Olympic medalists. Additionally, the NCAA and Georgia Tech allowed Thomas to share private locker room spaces with female athletes, raising concerns about privacy and safety violations.
Each of the five athletes is also a plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit against the NCAA, Riley Gaines et al. v. NCAA et al., concerning the 2022 National Championship, which is funded and sponsored by ICONS. Learn more about this critical suit here.
“ICONS stands firmly with these athletes and the Special Select Committee in their quest to restore justice and ensure that women's sports are fair and safe female competition,” said ICONS Co-Founder Marshi Smith. “Lack of fairness and safety in women’s sports not only compromises the integrity of the competition, but also undermines the decades of progress made under Title IX to ensure equal and fair opportunities for women in athletics.”
The hearing is a watershed moment for the preservation of women’s sports across the nation, Smith also noted. ICONS is committed to supporting any legislative measures that will reinforce the legal recognition of sex in sports, ensuring that female athletes compete on a level playing field.
For more information, please visit: www.TakeontheNCAA.com
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Marshi Smith Independent Council on Women's Sports 702-323-4516 marshismith@iconswomen.com
