EXCLUSIVEFemale fencer Stephanie Turner who took a knee against trans rival competed against men seven times days prior
The female fencer who refused to compete against a transgender opponent faced off against men seven times just a week earlier, and she beat four of them.
Stephanie Turner was set to battle with Redmond Sullivan at a USA Fencing tournament on March 30, but took a knee in protest and forfeited.
'I am sorry. I have a lot of love and respect for you, but I will not fence you,' she told Sullivan when her opponent walked over to ask if she was injured.
She then told the referee: 'I'm sorry, I cannot do this. I am a woman, and this is a man, and this is a women's tournament. And I will not fence this individual.'
Turner later confirmed taking a knee was a pre-planned protest and has become a cause célèbre among opponents of transgender women in sport, even given an award for her 'bravery'.
However, Turner had no problem competing against men just a week earlier at a different competition, and even defeated four of them, her record showed.
Turner competed in the Swarthmore College Phoenix Cup in Swarthmore, Philadelphia, on March 23 and made the quarter finals.
The mixed tournament pitted her against male fencers Ian Flynn, Harrison Kovacs, Luka Specter, Ethan Lee, Pau Chou-Esteban, and Luis Largaespada.
Redmond Sullivan was set to face Stephanie Turner, who took a knee and refused to compete
Pictured: Luis Largaespada, whom Turner competed against days earlier
She defeated Specter and Kovacs in the pool stage, along with two women, losing to Flynn and Chou-Esteban, then defeated Lee and Chou-Esteban in the finals before being eliminated by Largaespada.
Turner usually competes in women's tournaments, but has entered mixed competitions in the past before the March 23 event.
Monica Aksamit, who won a bronze medal for the US at the 2016 Olympics, said it was odd that Turner made a spectacle of protesting against fighting Sullivan.
'I think calling her brave is quite comical. I personally think that she looks more like a coward than anything else,' she told the DailyMail.com.
'We regularly train amongst men and boys, we regularly have tournaments against men and boys.
'She fenced against men a week prior, and beat four of them, so it wasn't an issue then. Now there's an issue when there's a trans-athlete?'
Aksamit said Turner knew well ahead of time and could have simply told the referee she refused to compete, instead of setting up a camera for a stage protest.
'She didn't have to kneel down and make an entire spectacle... the only logical explanation I can come up with, is to make it into a headline,' she said.
Stephanie Turner, 31, took a knee and walked out of her match against a transgender rival, competed against men seven times just a week earlier, and beat four of them
Redmond Sullivan (pictured) from Wagner College was Turner's opponent during her protest
Aksamit, who regularly competed against men during her career, said fencing was a very technical sport where men had fewer advantages than others.
'There is no ideal body type in the sport because it’s very mental. While every body type or gender has an advantage, me being 6ft fall, I also have disadvantages,' she said.
'My center of gravity is different and changing directions is way harder for me than someone who is five-five, I also have more target area than they do, and they’re lighter on their feet.
'Even while someone may have an advantage, they also have disadvantages that come with it.
'I don't think that at the level that these women are at that there can be many physical advantages, as neither is an Olympic hopeful.'
Aksamit, who was only paid $300 a month by USA Fencing even after winning bronze, said people complaining about transgender women in sport never cared about women's sports until now.
'Female athletes have been fighting for equal pay in sports and I don't remember the general public caring about fairness in sports then,' she said.
Monica Aksamit, who won a bronze medal for the US at the 2016 Olympics, said it was odd that Turner made a spectacle of protesting against fighting Sullivan
Aksamit celebrates against Ilaria Bianco of Italy during the Women's Sabre Team bronze medal match between US and Italy on Day 8 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
'Just like how I don't understand how the Riley Gaines story blew up when she didn't even lose to Lia Thomas, and they both lost to two other cis-women.
'They couldn’t accept that they’re not good enough, so they decided to whine about someone who has nothing to do with their loss.
'I don't even understand why men are now caring so much about women's sports when they were silent on every other matter, except when it came to control.'
Aksamit had a blunt answer to the entire debate.
'Why everyone cares so much about trans athletes competing in women’s sports more than I, a female athlete do? The answer is because they're bigots,' she said.
Opinions within the fencing community are divided about whether, or to what extent, transgender women and even men have over female competitors.
Some argue the greater strength of men allowed them to outlast and overpower opponents in long matches, and their height gave them a longer reach.
But others countered that, particularly at lower skill levels, female fencers had the advantage of being less reliant on raw power and being better at precision.
Aksamit at a press conference during the 2016 Olympics, where she won bronze
A 2023 University of Hertfordshire study found men had a 12 to 40 per cent sport performance advantage over women, but the effect was lessened for transgender women.
'Trans women receiving androgen-suppression therapy for 12 months showed significant reductions in strength, lean body mass, and muscle surface area, but even after 36 months, the measurements of these three indices remained above those for cisgender females,' the researchers concluded.
'Previous male muscle mass and strength can be retained through continuation of resistance training.'
'The literature suggests that there is an unfair retained physiological advantage for trans women who have experienced male puberty when participating in female fencing competitions.'
Wagner College confirmed Sullivan was no longer on its fencing team, but didn't explain the circumstances of her leaving.
Sullivan competed for the school's women's team in several meets this season after competing for the men's team last year.
Turner, from the Fencing Academy Of Philadelphia was set to compete against Sullivan at the Cherry Blossom Open before her protest had her disqualified.
USA Fencing explained her disqualification was 'not related to any personal statement'.
Instead it was 'the direct result of her decision to decline to fence an eligible opponent, which the FIE [International Fencing Federation] rules clearly prohibit'.
Aksamit in Brooklyn in 2021 after her retirement from top-level fencing
Nonetheless, the statement strongly defended transgender inclusion in the sport.
'USA Fencing enacted our current transgender and non-binary athlete policy in 2023. The policy was designed to expand access to the sport of fencing and create inclusive, safe spaces,' the organization said.
'The policy is based on the principle that everyone should have the ability to participate in sports and was based upon the research available of the day.
'We understand that the conversation on equity and inclusion pertaining to transgender participation in sport is evolving.
'USA Fencing will always err on the side of inclusion, and we're committed to amending the policy as more relevant evidence-based research emerges, or as policy changes take effect in the wider Olympic & Paralympic movement.'
Turner, after her disqualification, confirmed taking a knee was a pre-planned protest after she realized she was due to face Sullivan.
'I saw that I was going to be in a pool with Redmond, and from there I said, "OK, let's do it. I'm going to take the knee,"' she told Fox News.
'I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women's objections. I took a knee immediately at that point. Redmond [Sullivan] was under the impression that I was going to start fencing.
'Redmond didn't hear me, and he comes up to me, and he thinks that I may be hurt, or he doesn't understand what's happening. He asks: "Are you OK?" And I said: "I'm sorry. I have much love and respect for you, but I will not fence you."'
Turner said she had been scared to reach out to USA Fencing with her concerns, claiming high-ranking officials within the governing body had pro-trans views.
'I was like, I don't even want to reach out because if I do, then I won't ever have a fair bout in my life,' she previously told the DailyMail.com.
'There are a lot of people who are for this [trans athletes in women's sports] who are referees.
'I would lose favor within the sight of referees and I could end up with a biased bout. I could lose friends who I don't know what their position is on this.
'So what I was doing already was just avoiding tournaments where I knew there was a transgender fencer. But at this point, what else should I do? Should I just not sign up for any tournaments? I have no other options.'
The issue of trans athletes competing in women's sports has been further amplified since President Trump signed an executive order in February, which banned trans women from competing in women's competitions.
President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order banning transgender girls and women from participating in women's sports
'A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women's team,' the policy reads in part.
Days after Turner's protest, another athlete protested having to compete against a trans opponent, when disc golfer Abigail Wilson walked out of her tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.
She stepped up to compete but pretended to take her shot before turning round to face the crowd and shouting: 'Females must be protected in our division. This is unfair. I refuse to play.'
Wilson underlined her position later on Friday, sharing the footage in a lengthy social media caption that finished with her saying: 'Today I most likely ended my career and that is okay because this is bigger than me.'
Explaining her overall position, Wilson wrote: 'Today I refused to play at the Music City Open. Females deserve to have their gender protected division be protected. This is unfair.
'I have worked so hard to get to this point to play on the DGPT, but the sacrifice of my career and my hard work is worth it if it means I can make a difference for other women, daughters, nieces, and the future of our sport.'
