Former US Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson admitted in a recent interview that although she is a lifelong Democrat, she was hopeful for Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency because of his stance on protecting women and girls in sports.

Trump’s pledge to halt trans inclusion in women’s sports was a central issue in his campaign. Pro-Trump campaign ads during the election season painted Vice President Kamala Harris as in the corner for transgender women to compete against biological women. Trump even called trans inclusion in women’s sports policy “so far-fetched.”

It’s to the point that Thompson found herself rooting for him.

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“I don’t want my boyfriend to hear this because we’re both Democrats. I used to hate Trump because I’m from Reno, Nevada, around the casinos,” she told The Telegraph. “I grew up with a lot of people who were in the game, and we hated Trump. I knew people who would make deals with him, then he would back out. The first time he was elected, I made fun of him.

“This time, my position is, ‘If he’s going to protect women, I’m going to vote for him.'” This is the biggest threat to women that I can think of in my generation, and I have to vote for women.

Thompson is one of the former athletes who has led the charge to keep biological males out of women’s sports. Those views cost her a cycling team director’s job after she called on cyclists to protest the Union Cycliste Internationale’s (UCI) policy on transgender athletes in 2023.

Thompson told the paper she was upset with Democrats for supporting trans inclusion in women’s sports.

“Didn’t they learn their lesson at the Olympics about how tone deaf they are, how blind they are to what they do to women?” she said. “I’m angry at the party, which is itself a Democrat, that they continue to throw women under the bus. It would have been so easy for them to let common sense come back. But they won’t. That’s the final straw.”

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From left, Jeannie Longo of France, Valerie Simmonet of France and Inga Thompson of the United States celebrate on the podium after the Vail Criterium stage of the Coors International Bicycle Classic on August 11, 1985 in Vail, Colorado. (David Madison/Getty Images)

Thompson said she did not believe it was a “right-wing, Republican issue.” She said all she and Democrats like her want is “balance.”

“None of us are radicals, we are all about common sense. After their response to the Women in Sports Protection Act, they have lost me forever. This is when you realize the party has lost the plot,” she added .

Thompson is far from the only Democrat opposed to the particular policy. A New York Times/Ipsos poll released over the weekend found that a majority of Democrats also do not believe transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.

“When you think about transgender female athletes — meaning athletes who were male at birth but currently identify as female — do you think they should or shouldn’t be allowed to compete in women’s sports?” asked the survey.

Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as female should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports.

Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrats, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.

Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Some of that was seen in the House of Representatives earlier this month, when two Democrats voted with Republican lawmakers to ban male-born athletes from participating on girls’ high school sports teams.

The Protection of Women and Girls In Sports Act, led by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., would change federal law to specify that student athletes must participate on school sports teams that coincide with their gender at birth.

The bill will go to the Senate.