A brave female darts player decided to forfeit her chance at glory and money in the name of fair play in sports.
As Reduxx reported, British darts star Deta Hedman refused to play against the Netherlands’s Noa-Lynn Van Leuven during Saturday’s Denmark Open quarter-final in Esbjerg. As a result, Van Leuven received a free pass to the semi-finals.
“I’m not playing against a man in a women’s event,” Hedman told German newspaper Bild.
As the Daily Mail notes, the 64-year-old Hedman is one of the most prominent figures in the women’s darts scene. She is a three-time World Darts Federation (WDF) World Champion runner-up and has been a presence in women’s darts since the 1980s.
Reduxx notes Hedman also has been outspoken on the issue of keeping sports single-sex for several years. In 2023, Hedman named Van Leuven in a statement she wrote on the issue for Darts World.
For many months, I’ve struggled with transgenders playing in the women’s world-ranked events. I have thought this is wrong since day one.
I’m not close to Noa-Lynn in darts but in fairness seems a lovely person, at Lakeside I met Victoria Monaghan and must admit she is a right character we had banter and a fair few laughs, but my personal view is trans shouldn’t be playing in women’s ranked events.
Just a few days before her match against Van Leuven, Hedman also posted a message on her Facebook page denouncing biological men in female sports.
“Women & girls deserve to be CHAMPIONS in their own sports,” the message reads
Former champion collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines praised Hedman’s courage and offered to refund her any prize money she missed out on by bravely forfeiting her match. Hedman thanked her, but said she had already been paid out in full fro the event by Denmark Darts.
Phil Barrs, a far-left sports presenter for Online Darts, claimed on Friday that Hedman had initially told organizers she was sick but this turned out to be fake news.
She pushed back on X, writing, “No fake illness, I said I wouldn’t play a man in a lady’s event.”
No fake illness I said I wouldn’t play a man in a ladies event . Don’t listen to @phillbarrs he knows sweet fa, nor does his reliable source .
— Deta Hedman (@Deta132) May 4, 2024
Instead of admitting fault, Barrs accused her of transphobia.
Having the debate around Trans athletes in Women’s sport is one thing.
But this comment calling a trans woman a man is simply transphobic and should be addressed by the sporting authorities as there should be no place for it. https://t.co/suF9j284JH
— Phill Barrs (@phillbarrs) May 5, 2024
This is not the first time female darts players have refused to compete against van Leuven. As Reduxx notes, two female darts players from the Netherlands dropped out of the Dutch Women’s Team back in March over Van Leuven’s inclusion.