The former US Olympian, who is a lifelong Democrat, is changing his stance on Trump on a key political issue

Former US Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson admitted in a recent interview that although she is a lifelong Democrat, she hoped Donald Trump the incoming president for his stance on protecting women and girls in sports.

Trump’s promise to end the inclusion of transgender people in women’s sports was a key point in his campaign. Ads for the Trump campaign during the election season portrayed Vice President Kamala Harris as a transgender woman running against biological women. Trump even called out trans inclusion in women’s sports “so far” policies.

Until that moment, Thompson found himself supporting him.

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“I don’t want my boyfriend to hear this, because we’re both Democrats. I used to hate Trump, because I’m from Reno, Nevada, around the casinos,” she told The Telegraph. “I grew up with a lot of people who were into gaming and we hated Trump. I knew people who would make deals with him and then he would back out. The first time he was on the ballot, I made fun of him.

“This time, my position is, ‘If he’s going to protect women, I’m going to vote for him.’ This is the biggest threat to women that can happen in my generation and I have to vote for women.”

Thompson is one of the former athletes who have led the fight to keep biological men out of women’s sports. Those views cost her her cycling team director’s job after she called on cyclists to protest the Union Cycliste Internationale’s (UCI) policy on transgender athletes in 2023.

Thompson told the newspaper that she was angry 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 about what they do to women?” she said. “I’m angry at the party, being a Democrat myself, that they continue to throw women under the bus. It would be so easy for them to let sanity return. But they won’t. It’s the last straw.”

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Thompson said she doesn’t believe it’s a “right-wing, Republican issue.” She said all she and Democrats like her want is “balance.”

“None of us are radical, we’re just common sense. After their response to the Women in Sports Protection Act, they’ve lost me forever. That’s when you realize the party has lost its plot,” she added.

Thompson is not the only Democrat who opposes the policy. New York Times/Ipsos poll published over the weekend found that most Democrats also don’t think transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.

“Thinking about transgender athletes – meaning athletes who were born male but currently identify as female – do you think they should or shouldn’t be allowed to compete in women’s sports?” the poll asked.

Of the 2,128 people who took part, 79% said biological males who identify as female 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 against women.

Some of that was also seen in the House of Representatives earlier this monthh when two Democrats voted along with Republican lawmakers to bar male-born female athletes from participating in girls’ school sports teams.

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The Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act, led by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., would amend federal law to require student athletes to participate on school sports teams that match their birth gender.

The bill goes to the Senate.

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