A heated controversy has erupted over a Nike-sponsored exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Critics say it undermines the scientific basis for gender testing in women’s sports.
The exhibit titled “Change Your Game” has drawn fierce opposition from fitness influencer Jillian Michaels and other conservative voices who argue it promotes misleading information about biological differences between male and female athletes.
“[The exhibit]… talks about how it’s complex to do gender testing in sports,” Michaels told CNN. “It’s not complex. It’s basic science. Is it fair to have biological men competing against biological women in sports? No, but why is this in the Smithsonian?”
The display addresses what it characterizes as the complexities of gender testing in athletics, a perspective that has sparked outrage among those who view such testing as straightforward. The exhibit features interactive elements, including questions about transgender swimmer Lia Thomas’s participation on the University of Pennsylvania women’s team, asking visitors: “Do you think Thomas’s participation on the women’s team is fair or foul?”
Critics have seized on Nike’s financial backing of the exhibit as particularly troubling, given the company’s history of supporting female athletes while simultaneously taking positions they view as contradictory.
“Why does a company that claims to support and lift female athletes refuse to condemn males competing in women’s sports and invading women’s locker rooms?” asked Outkick’s Dan Zaksheske. “It doesn’t make any sense. Unless, of course, Nike isn’t really as interested in promoting women’s sports as they are in promoting left-wing talking points. Their political position appears to trump everything else.”
The timing of the controversy is particularly sensitive, as the exhibit has drawn attention while World Athletics is implementing new gender screening protocols for female athletes. These tests use cheek swabs or dry blood-spot analysis to detect Y chromosomes.
According to previous reporting on the exhibit’s interactive questionnaire, approximately 60 percent of respondents indicated they felt transgender athletes’ presence in women’s sports was inappropriate, while also supporting gender testing as appropriate.
The controversy has intensified amid the Trump administration’s broader review of Smithsonian exhibits ahead of America’s 250th birthday celebrations. The White House has indicated its intention to ensure museum displays align with what it describes as efforts to “celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey has joined the criticism, highlighting Nike’s role in funding content that she and others view as scientifically questionable.
Neither Nike nor Smithsonian representatives provided immediate comment on the controversy.
The exhibit continues to operate at the National Museum of American History, though it faces mounting pressure from critics who argue it presents misleading information about biological testing and competitive advantages in athletics.
