American transgender cyclist and Olympic hopeful Chelsea Wolfe has found herself at the centre of a furious social media storm after a callous online comment.
The athlete, who is bidding for a spot on the US BMX freestyle team for the Paris Olympics, sparked outrage with a two-word response to a post about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
A now-deleted tweet from a parody account had falsely claimed that the Turning Point USA founder had died. Wolfe’s reply to the post was a simple, and shocking: ‘If only’.
The comment was swiftly screenshotted and shared across social media, drawing immediate and widespread condemnation from users who labelled it ‘disgusting’ and ‘vile’.
Wolfe, who has since protected her account on the platform, has a history of making controversial statements online. Her profile once stated a competitive goal was to ‘win a gold medal and then piss off a bunch of people’.
This incident has ignited a fierce debate, raising serious questions about the conduct expected of athletes representing their country on the world stage. Wolfe’s involvement with the US Olympic team, even as an alternate, now faces intense scrutiny.
The backlash underscores the intense pressure and public scrutiny facing athletes, particularly those from marginalised communities, in the relentless age of social media.
