Stephanie Turner Put on 12-Month Probation, Taking Break From USA Fencing After Refusing to Compete Against Trans Athlete
16th April 2025
Women’s fencer Stephanie Turner will be stepping back from fencing “for a while” after she was placed on a 12-month probation by USA Fencing for refusing to compete against a transgender athlete last month, a report said.
Turner, 31, was disqualified from USA Fencing’s Cherry Blossom Open when she took a knee rather than fence Redmond Sullivan, a 20-year-old who was born biologically male.
The drama that followed the decision, which made national headlines, “has disrupted my training, it has disrupted my interactions when I go out in public, and it will certainly disrupt my competition because I won’t be competing in the United States anytime soon,” she told Fox News.