Olympian Slams Virginia Governor for Withdrawing Female Sports Regulation

Hungarian Olympian Réka György has criticized Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger's administration for withdrawing a proposed regulation that would have protected female sports and private spaces. György, who previously lost a place in an NCAA swimming final after competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, expressed disappointment with the decision.

"It’s really sad for me because I had the petition filed a year ago, and Youngkin approved it and wanted to take the next step and protect female athletes and female spaces in Virginia," György told OutKick. "I don’t like to see that people are using their power, especially political power, to make decisions and hurt other people. And also, it’s coming from a female."

György was one of three female swimmers who petitioned the Virginia Board of Health last year to enact the regulation. The board unanimously approved the petition under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and the Youngkin administration subsequently approved a Notice of Intended Regulatory Action, which was published in November 2025. However, the Spanberger administration withdrew the action on July 30, after an additional public-comment period had concluded. The withdrawal was not accompanied by an announcement from the governor’s office and was published in the Virginia Register of Regulations, with the official notice stating the State Board of Health would not proceed "upon review of statutory authority."

György questioned the administration's decision to withdraw the regulation without greater public announcement, speculating that the governor might be concerned about backlash. "I have a feeling that she’s afraid of the backlash of people, what they’re going to say or think," György said. "Other than that, I don’t know what her motivation is."

The petition, filed in April 2025, asked the Board of Health to adopt regulations preventing biological males from participating on female-only athletic teams or entering female-designated spaces where women and girls could be undressing. György’s advocacy stems from her experience at the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, where she finished 17th in the 500-yard freestyle, one place short of advancing to the consolation final. Lia Thomas, a biological male who identifies as a transgender woman, qualified for the championship final and won the national title.

"Because the rule-makers let him compete in the women’s category, I got bumped out from the final," György said. "I got 17th, and I wasn’t allowed to swim in the finals. It ended up being me who got knocked out of the finals at night."

György, a two-time ACC champion and two-time NCAA All-American during her career at Virginia Tech and a participant in the 2016 Rio Olympics, stated that her final collegiate championship appearance was a culmination of approximately 18 years of dedication to swimming. "I put everything into swimming that I had. The 2022 NCAA Championships was my senior year in college, so I was ready to retire from swimming, but before I did that, give my best. I had everything that I was capable of putting into practices to prepare myself to give my best at that competition. And the chance to actually swim in the final was taken away."

She also described feeling unsafe in the women's locker room during the championship meet. "You were in just constant fear. You had no idea when he was going to enter the locker room." György explained that the time required to put on a high-level racing suit, between 15 and 25 minutes, prevented swimmers from quickly changing and leaving. "I was always looking behind my shoulder because I had no idea when my privacy was going to be robbed away." This experience prompted György to become an advocate for sex-separated athletic competition and private spaces.

György plans to seek a conversation with Governor Spanberger. "I want to tell her that I hope she sees where I’m coming from. I hope she sees where other people are coming from when we are trying to protect little girls and females in sports and women-only spaces. Title IX was created for a reason. I really do hope that she is going to follow this rule, and she is going to stand up for women in Virginia."