asby wrote:
Well, Redmond is back in the news
The reason Redmond Sullivan is back in the news is that he's now competing in women's fencing both as a member of the NCAA D1 women's fencing team at Wagner College in New York, and in extracurricular bouts - and he's been getting some pushback and flak from the grass-roots whilst the officials who make and enforce the rules for fencing are strongly supporting him because he's in compliance with the "transgender inclusion" policy that USA Fencing decided to adopt in 2023.
Last weekend at a USA Fencing tournament held at the University of Maryland, Stephanie Turner, a 31-year-old female fencer scheduled to go up against Redmond Sullivan in a women's bout, decided to take the knee instead. Turner was given a black card and ejected from the event.
Redmond Sullivan joined the Wagner College women's fencing team at the start of the 2024-2025 school year/season. He competed for Wagner on the men's team in 2023-2024, his first year in college. Sulivan graduated from high school in June 2023.
In December 2024, Sullivan generated headlines - and criticism- when he won first place in the women's foil at the Connecticut Division Junior Olympic Qualifiers. (In fencing, the junior Olympics are for athletes age 20 and under.)
Since he began competing in women's fencing in mid-late 2024, Sullivan has won two women's gold medals in USA Fencing tournaments. When he competed in men's fencing, the best he ever did in USA Fencing events was winning a bronze on one occasion.
