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Coco Gauff
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NEED TO KNOW
- Coco Gauff is speaking out
- The tennis star shared her opinion about the WTA’s new gene-testing policy
- Gauff’s comments come as the WNBA has been at the center of a controversy surrounding the issue of trans athletes playing in women’s sports
Coco Gauff is backing the WTA’s new gene-testing policy — with a caveat.
The two-time Grand Slam champ spoke out about supporting the testing, but taking issue with what the policy means for the transgender community.
“So, yes, I guess I kind of agree with trying to protect the fairness in women’s sports. But I also do not like the attack that it is creating,” Gauff, 22, said after her opening round match win at the Canadian Open on Thursday, Aug. 6.
She added, “People who don’t really care, but just want to use this as a reason to attack the trans community — so I’m not really a big fan of that either.”
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Coco Gauff at Wimbledon last month.
Credit: Robert Prange/Getty
Last month, the WTA announced a one-off gene testing requirement for players in order to compete at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
The new policy coincides with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision, announced in March, that has banned transgender athletes from competing in women’s events.
“Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females,” the IOC said in a news release.
All athletes competing in the female category will be required to take a mandatory gene test in advance of competition, the IOC added. The test, which requires screening by saliva, a cheek swab or blood sample, is currently used in track and field, according to The New York Times.
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Gauff said that she took issue with how the change in policy was not previously shared with players until the announcement.
The news comes amid a growing controversy in the WNBA that has embroiled the Indiana Fever after one of its players spoke out about trans athletes in women’s sports.
The Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham, 29, drew both ire and support for her opinion on the matter, which she first shared with ESPN last month.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’ ” Cunningham told ESPN. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
Her opinion sparked widespread debate at various venues on a recent Fever road trip.
Supporters of Cunningham’s stance celebrated outside the Fever’s game against the Minnesota Lynx, while the Lynx’s head coach Cheryl Reeve pointedly wore a “Trans Kids Belong” shirt, and was seen animatedly talking with Cunningham before tipoff.
Read the original article on People
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