“He slapped me across the face” – Michael Phelps bashed for his comments on Lia Thomas

“He slapped me across the face” – Michael Phelps bashed for his comments on Lia Thomas

Michael Phelps and Lia Thomas

The sudden rise of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has sparked news tensions among the swimming fraternity. Meanwhile, legendary swimmer and the most successful Olympian Michael Phelps bared his views on the issue which didn’t go well with fans and experts of this sport.

The 22-year-old transgender woman who represents the University of Pennsylvania has been making waves in the Ivy League with her record-breaking performances. Lia’s maiden US record came when she won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:34:06.

Adding to this, the youngster won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:41:93 – seven seconds ahead of her nearest rival, giving her the fastest female US time ever for that race too on the very next day.

“I think this leads back to the organizing committees again,” Phelps had said while speaking to CNN on this matter. “Because it has to be a level playing field. I think that’s something that we all need. Because that’s what sports are and for me, I don’t know where this is going to go. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“I don’t know what it looks like in the future. But it’s hard. It’s very complicated and this is my sport, this has been my sport my entire career, and honestly, the one thing I would love is everybody being able to compete on an even playing field,” he added. 

Twitter reactions on Michael Phelps’ statement

Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps

Soon after the video of Phelps’ remarks went viral on social media, he was bashed by plenty of Twitter users. Here are some of the top tweets:

Also Read | Michael Phelps calls controversy surrounding Lia Thomas ‘very complicated,’ asks for ‘level playing field’