In the ongoing controversy surrounding transgender athletes in women’s sports, submission grappling superstar Gordon Ryan has entered the fray, publicly supporting former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines in her dispute with Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles.
The disagreement began when Gaines commented on a high school softball championship where transgender pitcher Marissa Rothenberger helped her team win the state title. Gaines wrote on social media:
“To be expected when your star player is a boy.”
Biles, who has earned seven Olympic gold medals, responded by calling Gaines “truly sick” and a “straight up sore loser,” referencing Gaines’ tie with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 2022 NCAA Championships. In a particularly pointed comment, Biles suggested Gaines should:
“Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”
Gaines responded with a video showing herself standing back-to-back with her husband while measuring her height.
“Simone Biles yesterday told me to bully someone my own size and then said, ironically, that would be a man,” Gaines stated in the video. “Number one, acknowledging that there are differences between men and women.”
The video shows Gaines measuring herself at 5’5.5″, contradicting Wikipedia’s listing of her height as 5’9″.
Multiple-time ADCC world champion Gordon Ryan, known for his dominance in no-gi grappling, voiced his strong support for Gaines on social media. Ryan wrote:
“Wanna be gay? Be gay. Wanna be trans? Be trans. But if you’re gonna have males competing with women, let’s just abolish women’s O sports rn. It’s just not fair.”
The grappling champion also directed criticism at Biles, saying:
“Also, Simone, as someone who has won world championships with broken legs, broken arms, near puking, no camp, you name it.. shut the f**k up, you quitter f**k.”
The exchange highlights the continuing tensions around transgender participation in sports, a debate that intensified in February when Gaines attended the White House as President Donald Trump signed an executive order excluding transgender girls and women from competing in women’s sports.
Considering Ryan is open about his PED use, you’d think he’d be more for inclusion.
Transgender advocate and former Harvard swimmer Schuyler Bailar called that order “absolutely devastating” and “discriminatory,” adding:
“This, I think, is a really horrible way to invite a lot of discrimination — not just against trans people — but also against all people in the women’s category, because this is a policing of women’s bodies in sports.”
The controversy has divided the sports world, with many high-profile athletes and political figures taking sides on the contentious issue of transgender inclusion in athletic competition.
