Former track and field athlete Minna Svärd is asking the NCAA to award her a 2019 victory that she says was "stolen" by a male athlete participating in the women's division.

Svärd raced for East Texas A&M University in 2019 in the women's 400-meter hurdles and was the fastest female at any NCAA Division II school.

Svärd wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and participated in subsequent interviews regarding a race at the NCAA championships where she posted a time of 59.21 seconds. Unfortunately, a male athlete named CeCe Telfer was also in that race, and with a time of 57.53, beat her by 1.68 seconds.

"It's been five years since that honor was stolen from me," Svärd wrote. "I want it back."

The Swedish athlete also revealed in an interview with Megyn Kelly that Telfer was allegedly ranked 390th in men's competitions before becoming the top female hurdler less than two years later. The male towered over his competition at events, dwarfing female athletes in side-by-side comparisons that made footage a travesty to watch.

'My dreams were taken away from me once again.'

Telfer was heralded by progressive activists after his win and received an honor for his "pioneering actions" in the sport of track and field. He was soon paraded around on networks like CNN and CBS who celebrated him for his alleged struggle as a black woman.

In 2024, the athlete promised vengeance in response to criticisms and said he would return to women's sports and take more records from female athletes.

"My dreams were taken away from me once again. So I plan on going back to New England, hitting up all the indoor competitions, and taking all the names, all the records, and everything," he said in an interview.

Correcting the record

Svärd, applauding President Trump's executive order aimed at preventing men from competing in women's sports, still said the order does not go far enough. She added that official results of past competitions should be corrected to align with the reality that they were the result of male competitors.

However, the Department of Education made the very same declaration in February. The government agency sent a letter to the NCAA demanding any records or awards given to males in female categories be returned to the actual winners.

The letter defined such awards or records as being "wrongfully credited to male athletes."

Svärd has echoed many sentiments shared by female athletes who had opportunities taken by men posing as women, such as the fact that every time a male athlete enters or participates in a women's event, it displaces at least one female athlete that should have been there.

This rings true according to a United Nations study from 2024, which claimed more than 600 female athletes lost podium positions in 29 sporting categories to male athletes.

While Svärd is still waiting for her championship to be returned to her, she cited one unfortunate accolade that cannot be taken away:

"That made me the first collegiate woman to be told her victory was worth less than a man's feelings."

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Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines and other athletes starred in an ad accusing the NCAA of developing a substandard policy surrounding men in women's sports.

Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who competed against transgender athlete Lia Thomas in the women's category, appeared in an ad for XX-XY Athletics, a brand that pushes for women's rights in sports.

"This policy does not protect female athletes. It sets no clear boundary to ensure that women's sports are for women only," the ad said in reference to the NCAA's new policy.

The governing body's policy is in reaction to President Trump's executive order to prevent women's sports from being infiltrated by men. The order called for "enforcement actions against educational institutions" if they force women to participate in sports or athletic events with men or if women are forced to "appear unclothed before males."

For competitions, the new policy says a "student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women's team."

At the same time, the same policy stated that a student-athlete who is male "may practice on the team consistent with their gender identity and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes who are otherwise eligible for practice."

Simply put, the male athlete may stay on the female team, so long as they are not actively in competition and can still receive athletic benefits.

'The policy is riddled with loopholes.'

For women, the same rules apply if they are on "hormone therapy," such as testosterone. They may also remain on a women's team but also can only partake in practices.

"The new NCAA policy is in direct conflict with President Trumps [sic] beautifully written Executive Order, 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports,'" Gaines said in a post while sharing the ad.

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Jennifer Sey, founder of the clothing brand and former United States national artistic gymnast, said, "The policy is riddled with loopholes."

"[It] ensures that the NCAA need not take any accountability for ensuring that women’s sports and spaces in federally funded, Title IX governed institutions remain for women only."

Sey also criticized the idea that the NCAA is relying on birth certificates to verify an athlete's sex, stating, "The vast majority of states have laws on the books allowing people to change their sex on their birth certificate with varying levels of requirements. (Only 6 states don’t allow it at all.)"

Attached to the NCAA's announcement of its policy change was a document providing its "Guidance on Inclusive Language."

The guidance warned against the use of offensive language when referring to a person's citizenship, nationality, gender, or disability.

For example, it said to "avoid terms such as 'foreigner' or 'alien'" and instead say "international" or "citizen" of another country.

For gender, it said not to make assumptions that express "implicit bias" and to not assume a person's pronouns.

The ad went on to demand safe sports for women, without any inclusion of men.

The athletes included in the ad are the following: Macey Boggs, Payton McNabb, Kaitlynn Wheeler, Réka György, Neely Gaines, Lauren Miller, and Sia Liilii.

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