Riley Gaines and other female athletes say they will appeal after a federal judge dismissed their remaining Title IX claims against the NCAA. Gaines said the case could ultimately reach the US Supreme Court, where she hopes the legal responsibilities of large sporting bodies towards female athletes will be clarified.

Judge Tiffany R. Johnson ruled that the evidence did not show the NCAA received federal financial assistance through its concussion-research work with the Department of Defense; such assistance is required for Title IX liability. She did not decide whether the NCAA’s former transgender-athlete policy amounted to sex discrimination. Filed in 2024 by Gaines and more than a dozen other current and former college athletes, the lawsuit challenged eligibility policies and focused in part on the 2022 NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships.