Contrary to posts online, there is no evidence that former competitive swimmer Riley Gaines got $50 million in settlements from a lawsuit she filed with other female athletes against the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) after competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
Social media posts sharing, opens new tab a photo of Thomas, opens new tab alongside one of Gaines, opens new tab read, “Swimmer Riley Gaines scored a victory against the NCAA, securing a $50 million settlement for unfair distribution of medals, a major win for her and critics of sporting inequalities.” Text on the images repeats the claim, adding, “a victory against wokeness.”
However, the lawsuit filed in March 2024 by Gaines and a group of more than a dozen former and current female college athletes has not been settled and federal court records, opens new tab last updated on Aug. 2 show legal proceedings were ongoing.
One of the earliest posts, opens new tab sharing the false narrative leads to an identical headline published by the website USAMode24, opens new tab on July 23. Reuters has addressed another misleading narrative originating from the same website in the past.
The suit, filed in March 2024 against the NCAA and the University of Georgia system, which hosted the 2022 national championships, accused, opens new tab the association of violating the female athletes’ Title IX, opens new tab rights by allowing Thomas to compete at the championships.
Gaines has discussed on X, opens new tab that she was suing, opens new tab the NCAA in multiple, opens new tab posts since March, opens new tab but as of Aug. 8, she has not mentioned the lawsuit being settled and no credible news outlets have reported on such a settlement.
The allegation listed in the social media posts, “unfair distribution of medals,” is not included in the filed complaint,, opens new tab which can be viewed on the website of the Independent Council on Women’s Sport (ICONS), an advocacy group that seeks to “promote and protect women’s sports” and has provided funding, opens new tab for the lawsuit against the NCAA.
Reuters has previously addressed a false narrative that the NCAA had transferred medals from Thomas to Gaines.
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