Gaines Responds To Social Media Post
Former NCAA swimmer and outspoken women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines is not backing down—and this time, she’s challenging her critics in the pool. After former ESPN and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann mocked her athletic credentials on social media, Gaines delivered a sharp clapback and an unexpected challenge: a head-to-head swim race for charity.
The clash began when Olbermann responded to Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s comment on Fox News’ America Reports suggesting Gaines “would have clearly won” her collegiate race had she not competed against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
Olbermann dismissed the remark, posting on X: “[Riley Gaines] finished 85th in the Olympic Trials. She finished tied for 5th in the only race including a transgendered athlete. If there had been none she MIGHT have finished tied for 4th, or had 5th place to herself.”
Gaines swiftly countered, setting the record straight. “I placed 85th at Olympic trials when I was 15/16,” she explained. “And I placed 5th in the nation in a sport measured in .01s of a second without going a best.” She followed up with a pointed rhetorical question: “Would you say the 5th best college football player is objectively bad at their sport?”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the 25-year-old University of Kentucky alumnus extended an official invitation to Olbermann for a 200-yard freestyle race at any location of his choosing before August 31. Gaines even offered to let the 66-year-old journalist swim a shorter 150-yard distance to “incentivize” participation. The winner would choose a charity to receive the proceeds.
To his credit, Olbermann responded on X, calling the race “a brilliant idea,” albeit with sarcasm: “A 66-year old man with an arthritic left knee and chronic stress fractures in the right foot... Somebody you could finally beat!”
While their sparring fueled a new cultural flashpoint, it comes amid broader political tensions over transgender participation in women’s sports. President Donald Trump added fuel to the fire this week, condemning California Gov. Gavin Newsom after the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) cleared a transgender athlete to compete in a women’s track and field state championship.
“California, under the leadership of Radical Left Democrat Gavin Newscum, continues to ILLEGALLY allow ‘MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS,’” Trump posted on Truth Social. “THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS.”
Trump recently signed an executive order barring male-born athletes from competing in women’s sports, threatening to revoke federal funding from non-compliant states.
Gov. Newsom’s office, however, reaffirmed its support for the transgender athlete's inclusion, defending CIF’s decision and aligning with California's progressive stance on gender identity in youth sports.