Australian Swimming Body Moves to Halt Fake Quotes Linked to Champion Athlete Mollie O’Callaghan
Swimming Australia has taken steps to shut down described as “fabricated stories” and “made-up statements” attributed to Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan regarding trans swimmer Lia Thomas.
Social Media Posts Circulate Fake Claims
A comment credited to O’Callaghan but not shared from her social media accounts has been seen in posts on Meta platform Facebook, as well as on Twitter, and suggested the swimming star would not participate in the Los Angeles Olympics if a transgender swimmer is permitted to race.
These words wrongly credited to O’Callaghan featured a provocative remark that “being in the same lane with Lia Thomas is absolutely an disgrace and a embarrassment”.
Official Statement from the Federation
Swimming Australia supported the star swimmer in a release titled with “fake quotes associated with Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan”.
“At present, there are fabricated quotes linked to team member Mollie O’Callaghan seen on online content,” the federation announced this past Sunday.
“Never has O’Callaghan given an interview and provided commentary on transgender athletes.
“Meta has been advised of the fabricated stories, and O’Callaghan and the federation have demanded the content to be removed.”
Latest Developments and Context
Posts that feature the statement credited to O’Callaghan were still online on Facebook on Monday, while a platform official commented that “we are reviewing the appeal”.
The organization did not offer additional statements.
United States transgender athlete Lia Thomas is banned from competing in the women’s events under present governing body rules and failed to overturn the policies in the period before the Paris Olympics.
The governing body enacted rules in recent years which ban anyone who has gone through “any phase of male puberty” from the female category.
About Mollie O’Callaghan
O’Callaghan is a multiple gold medal winner after beating fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 200m freestyle final at the recent Olympics along with participating in several team victories.
The 21-year-old secured a freestyle world championship crown to her achievements in Tokyo in July this year.
O’Callaghan was competing in a international competition in the United States last weekend and defeated the opponents by a significant margin to claim the freestyle race in a new best of one minute 50.77 seconds.
