Lia Thomas: NYT science reporter mocked for claiming transgender swimmer faces 'hormonal scrutiny'

Former USA Swimming official Cynthia Millen calls for rules to change to ensure fairness in women’s sports amid transgender athlete controversy.

New York Times science reporter Azeen Ghorayshi got attention this week for her report on Penn State swimmer Lia Thomas, the transgender athlete who has fueled a national debate over whether transgender women should be participating in women's sports. 

Thomas made headlines over the past months after repeatedly shattering swimming records just two years after competing as a biological male, trouncing her female competitors. 

PENN'S LIA THOMAS PICKS UP VICTORY IN 200 FREE AT IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP, SETS MEET RECORD

In a report published Wednesday, Ghorayshi tackled the question, "What defines a woman?" 

"These thorny questions over the nature of athleticism are not new in women’s sports," Ghorayshi wrote. "They have come up many times over the past century, typically when an athlete deemed too masculine started to win. Sports authorities have leaned on medical tests — whether anatomical, chromosomal or hormonal — to determine eligibility in women’s categories, while requiring no analogous tests for men. But in the realm of elite physical performance, where extraordinary biology is the rule, science has never provided neat answers."

Penn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

The articles addressed controversies in women's sports over the decades with experts weighing in on the subject. 

One expert, London's Adult Gender Identity Clinic director Dr. James Barrett, suggested transgender women might have a disadvantage in some sports, given their heavier musculature, telling the Times, "Trans women by and large aren’t winning across the board … It’s not obvious