Transgender fencer slammed after beating 14-time women's champion
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A transgender female fencer has sparked outrage after winning her eighth world championship.
Liz Kocab was branded an “entitled cheat” by women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines after the 71-year-old won gold at the Veteran Fencing World Championships.
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Transgender fencer slammed after beating 14-time women's champion Back to video
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Kocab competed in the women’s 70-plus age division, where she beat 14-time champion Marja-Liisa Someroja of Finland.
It was Kocab’s fourth major win in a row, after taking the title in 2018, 2019 and 2022 (there were no competitions in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic).
Gaines shared a video of Kocab on X, in which the fencer remarked that she is “not quite sure” what allows her to keep winning.
“Liz Kocab (male) wins his 8th Fencing World Championship title… in the women’s category,” Gaines wrote on X.
“Winning a title as a male in the women’s category doesn’t make you a champion,” the former collegiate swimmer continued. “It makes you an entitled cheat.”
Marshi Smith, co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, also sounded off on X about the fencer’s latest win to the governing body of the Olympic sport.
“This man will retire as one of the greatest women’s fencers of all time because @FIE_fencing and @Olympics made female fencing a joke,” Smith said.
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Kocab almost left the sport but made her return to the competition this year to support USA Fencing.
“I wanted to support USA Fencing, I really did,” Kocab said. “Otherwise, I was actually thinking of stepping away. But the fact that it was in America, I thought that was important to support the USA. This is my way of saying thanks to USA Fencing.”
With her latest win, Kocab advanced to the team event, where she’ll again compete for gold.
It is not known when Kocab transitioned.
Fencing USA, the sport’s official organization, previously announced their support for nonbinary and transgender athletes, calling it “both a moral and ethical imperative.”
Their policy was revealed last November.
“It is critical that we protect the rights of nonbinary and transgender athletes in fencing,” CEO Phil Andrews said at the time, according to Fox News.
“Even as we plan to conduct more scientific research into the physiological effects of gender transition as they pertain specifically to the sport of fencing, we remain unanimously and steadfastly supportive of transgender athletes having their place in fencing,” he continued.
“To be clear, even as this issue evolves, our support of transgender athletes will not waver.”
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