Riley Gaines can’t believe a cis cyclist is okay with coming in third behind 2 trans women

Anti-trans activist Riley Gaines called cyclist Kristen Chalmers a “traitor to women” for defending her two trans competitors who came in first and second place in a recent Illinois cycling competition.

Chalmers came in third, and right-wing commentators were outraged to see a photo of her beaming on the third-place podium alongside Tessa Johnson and Evelyn “Casey” Williamson on the first and second-place podiums.

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In response to the ire, Chalmers told NBC News, “It would be ridiculous to say that my life has been ruined by getting third.”

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“I had a great race,” she continued, “and it would have been more boring if it had been a smaller field without such strong competitors in it.”

Chalmers even gathered a group of cisgender athletes to sign on to her open letter declaring support for Johnson and Williamson.

“We refuse to be falsely presented as victims in a manufactured controversy driven to further alienate and marginalize those most vulnerable within our community, in service of rampant and harmful anti-LGBTQ+ legislation,” the letter states. “We speak for ourselves: inclusion makes our sport and community stronger. Everyone is welcome here. Trans women are women.”

But Gaines – a former collegiate swimmer who rose to right-wing fame because she once tied for fifth place with a trans woman – could not fathom that someone would accept losing to trans women.

Gaines told Outkick that women athletes like Chalmers “don’t have the right to willingly surrender the integrity of competition for everyone.”

“The majority of female athletes believe women deserve respect and fair competition,” she continued. “She is a traitor to ethical and fair sport. And she’s a traitor to women.”

Gaines then posted about the cycling event on X just to emphasize her point even more. “Women expediting their own erasure,” she said. “You can’t make it up.”

In contrast to Chalmers, Gaines has been crusading against the rights of trans athletes since she tied for fifth place with trans University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas in the women’s 200m freestyle final at the National Collegiate Athletics Association swimming and diving championships. She has claimed she was robbed of some sort of victory by having to share fifth place with a trans woman.