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How many sports championships have been won by transgender athletes
Executive summary
Available reporting does not offer a single, authoritative count of all championships won by transgender athletes worldwide; individual lists and case studies exist (for example, Outsports has catalogued 29 trans athletes with state, national or international titles as of mid‑2025) [1]. News stories and local reporting document many high‑profile wins — including Lia Thomas’s 2022 NCAA title [2] [3] and multiple state titles such as AB Hernandez’s two golds and a silver at the 2025 California high school meet [4] [5] [6] — but no comprehensive global tally appears in the provided sources.
1. A patchwork record: why a single global number is missing
There is no single official registry of “championships won by transgender athletes” cited in the current reporting; coverage is fragmented across local newspapers, advocacy outlets, sports sites and occasional studies, each using different definitions of “championship” (state, national, international, masters, age‑group) and different thresholds for inclusion [1] [2] [7]. For example, Outsports published a list of 29 trans athletes who have won state, national or international titles [1], while other items focus on notable individual wins (Lia Thomas, Veronica Ivy, AB Hernandez) without aggregating totals [2] [8] [4].
2. Examples frequently cited in reporting
Multiple sources document specific, high‑profile championship wins: Lia Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship in 2022 [2] [3]. Veronica Ivy is reported as the first transgender world track cycling champion in the UCI Masters 35–44 category in 2018 [8]. AB Hernandez won two golds and a silver at the 2025 California high school championships, a result widely covered by AP and other outlets [4] [5] [6]. Outsports’ list notes additional masters and national titles such as Kate Phillips’s 2025 USA Cycling masters title and others [1].
3. Conflicting tallies and claims — different methodologies produce different numbers
Some reports and summaries make broad aggregate claims; for instance, an item citing a UN document claimed “nearly 900 medals” won by transgender athletes in women’s competitions [7]. That figure — appearing in KFOX’s write‑up of a TNND/UN study — is not corroborated in other items provided here and likely uses a different unit (medals, not “championships”) and different selection criteria [7]. Outsports’ piece counts named athletes with title wins [9] — a much smaller, name‑based tally [1]. The discrepancy shows how definitions (medals vs. championship titles; age‑group or masters vs. elite/open competition) drive vastly different totals [1] [7].
4. What reporters and researchers include — and what they leave out
Local and national news stories tend to highlight notable firsts and controversies (first NCAA Division I title, state championship wins triggering rule changes) rather than attempt exhaustive catalogues [2] [4] [6]. Outsports compiled named cases into a list, but it is selective and focuses on state/national/international title wins it could verify [1]. Academic or policy discussions (e.g., IOC, research articles cited by municipal pages) address fairness, physiology and rules rather than producing a global championship count [2] [8].
5. Different audiences, different agendas — read tallies carefully
Advocacy outlets and investigative lists aim to document inclusion and historic milestones (Outsports, SF.gov resources highlighting Veronica Ivy), while some outlets or secondary reports emphasize the scale of impact on cisgender competitors (the KFOX/TNND story summarizing a UN document that claims nearly 900 medals lost) [1] [8] [7]. Each source’s framing should be noted: Outsports documents named winners to show visibility and precedent [1]; the KFOX item presents a large aggregate number framed as evidence of disadvantage [7].
6. What a careful answer looks like right now
Given the sources at hand, a defensible, source‑based reply is: there is no single authoritative global count in the provided reporting; named tallies include Outsports’ 29 trans athletes with state, national or international titles [1], numerous documented individual championships such as Lia Thomas’s NCAA title [2] [3] and AB Hernandez’s two state golds [4] [5], and at least one report citing a UN study that placed related medal losses near 900 [7]. Any broader numeric assertion requires explicit definition (what counts as a “championship”) and a transparent methodology that none of the supplied sources applies globally [1] [7].
Limitations: available sources do not provide a comprehensive, vetted worldwide tally that reconciles medals vs. championships, open vs. masters events, or age‑group vs. elite competition [1] [7].