‘My Stance Is Pro-Woman’: Riley Gaines Reflects on Her Work to Restore Fairness in Women’s Sports

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines graduated summa cum laude in May 2022, fully intending to pursue dental school. However, the then-22-year-old soon found herself on a different career trajectory: spearheading a nationwide movement aimed at restoring fairness in women’s sports. Now 24, Ms. Gaines, founder of The Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, works to combat the inclusion of biological males in female spaces—a pursuit she says she’s undertaken on behalf of young girls across the country. “I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face: This is certainly a hill I’m willing to die on,” Ms. Gaines said during the latest installment of the “Try That in a Small Town Podcast,” which is hosted by Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy, and Kurt Allison, the writers of country singer Jason Aldean’s hit song of the same name....