Riley Gaines has, for years, fought tooth and nail to keep trans athletes out of women's sports ... so now that Lia Thomas' records have been wiped clean by UPenn, how does the star college swimmer-turned-activist feel about the news?

TMZ Sports asked Gaines on Wednesday.

"This has been my mission these past three years to get any sort of accountability, responsibility, and I think more so transparency," Riley told us, reacting to the University of Pennsylvania stripping Thomas of her school records, as well as issuing an apology letter for allowing LT to compete.

Gaines, who swam against Thomas, continued ... "I am ecstatic. I'm over the moon. I am so excited. I'm a bit cynical, truthfully, as I don't believe that the University of Pennsylvania necessarily approaches this conversation in good faith."

Of course, Riley -- who hosts Outkick's Gaines For Girls -- is referring to the U.S. government withholding nearly $200 million in federal funding ... pending the university striking a deal with the Department of Education, and agreeing to the government's conditions.

"This was never something [UPenn] was willing to do. Granted, they have $175 million hanging over their head that they would lose out on it if they weren't willing to do this. So maybe that amount of money can make anyone grow a spine," Riley quipped.

As part of the agreement, UPenn will also adhere to President Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" and "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism" executive orders (Riley was with POTUS when he signed a few months back).

The school with also implement biology-based definitions for the words "male" and "female."

There's more with Riley. Is this an inflection point, or a one-off ... and how does the All-American swimmer feel personally as a soon-to-be first-time mother of a little baby girl?

3:11 PM PT -- Reps for Red Panda tell TMZ Sports the iconic halftime performer suffered a severe left wrist fracture in Tuesday night's fall, an injury she also previously experienced.

We're told the accident was due to the left pedal of her unicycle being damaged in transit.

After spending 11 hours in the hospital, Red Panda's reps say she is now on her way home and will meet with an orthopedic surgeon for further repair.

We're told Red Panda is thankful for all the support she's received in wake of the accident ... as "it means the world to her."

Red Panda left the WNBA Commissioner's Cup championship on Tuesday night a little black and blue ... as the halftime show legend sustained an injury during a scary fall.

AEW is set to air its 300th episode of "Dynamite" on Wednesday ... and the promotion's president, Tony Khan, is sharing the secret to the success over the past six years -- saying the fans play a major role in the decision-making process.

All Elite Wrestling is celebrating the big milestone on TBS in a few hours ... and Khan sat down with us on Tuesday to talk all about what they've been able to accomplish to date, as well as how they operate.

We asked the 42-year-old how much sway the audience has whenever they are putting their product together ... and he told us they absolutely influence what people end up seeing on their TV screens.

Jake Paul could be competing for a boxing championship REAL soon -- so says Antonio Tarver, who tells TMZ Sports El Gallo's entry into the WBA cruiserweight rankings is paving the way for the opportunity.

We spoke with the former lightweight champ after Paul secured his 12th career win against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (54-7) in 10 rounds in Anaheim, Calif. this past weekend -- which Tarver had a front-row seat for, as he called the fight for DAZN.

Tarver was very impressed with Paul's performance, praising the YouTuber/entrepreneur for what he has achieved in the ring, considering he has zero amateur boxing experience.

What can Brown do for the New York Knicks?? They're hoping the answer is "win championships" ... 'cause the team is slated to name Mike Brown its next head coach.

Shams Charania revealed the expected signing on Wednesday ... almost one month after the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau, their leader of the bench for the past five seasons.

The Knicks met with several candidates for the position ... including college basketball coach and former WNBA star Dawn Staley.

Ilia Topuria is opening up on his brutal (and shocking) knockout of Charles Oliveira ... and talking about who could be next -- and he's putting two big UFC stars on notice!

The 28-year-old newly crowned lightweight champ joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... just days after he put Oliveira's lights out with a crushing combo of punches in the UFC 317 main event.

As it goes, everyone wants to know what's next for the champion. Two names that have been talked about most ... Paddy Pimblett and Islam Makhachev!

Travis Kelce is opening up on how Taylor Swift found herself onstage at a Tight End University event ... saying despite it being a pretty off-the-cuff moment, she had every detail handled in real time!!

The Kansas City Chiefs superstar addressed the viral Nashville moment on Wednesday's "New Heights" ... saying it was Taylor who pitched the idea of joining Kane Brown and his band at the Tight Ends and Friends party -- and soon enough, she was singing her heart out to "Shake It Off."

Kelce went on to explain how Swift pulled it together ... telling his brother, Jason, he watched her write impromptu sheet music for the musicians backstage to make sure everyone was on the same page, despite not rehearsing beforehand.

Sophie Cunningham must be a Juvenile fan ... 'cause the Indiana Fever guard was backin' that ass up after her squad won the WNBA Commissioner's Cup!!

The party went down on Tuesday after the Fever defeated the Minnesota Lynx with a 74-59 victory in the finale of the in-season tournament.

It was the first Commish's Cup win for the Fever ... and the champs certainly celebrated like it -- live streaming the whole bash on social media.

Maxwell Hairston -- the Buffalo Bills' 2025 first-round draft pick -- has been sued over allegations he sexually assaulted a female student when he was a member of the University of Kentucky football team.

The suit -- obtained by TMZ Sports -- was filed in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Kentucky on Tuesday. In it, the plaintiff states she first met Hairston at a UK residence hall in early 2021.

She claims she went to the defensive back's dorm room ... but left a short time later when he made her uncomfortable by trying to "to isolate her in his bedroom."

Taylor Swift is getting to know Travis Kelce's old stomping grounds ... because it looks like he's showing her around his home state ... Ohio.

Taylor and Travis were spotted Tuesday at JoJo's Bar in Chagrin Falls ... and a photo floating around on social media shows them sitting at a table inside the steakhouse.

The couple was joined by a third wheel ... and the sighting comes after Travis played in a charity golf tournament Monday in nearby Chardon.

Puka Nacua's girlfriend has asked a court to confirm the NFL superstar is the father of her unborn baby, TMZ Sports has learned.

According to records we obtained, Hallie Aiono filed a petition to determine parental relationship against Nacua in Los Angeles County back on June 16.

In the docs, Aionio stated she was 19 weeks pregnant -- and wanted a court to affirm it's Nacua's child. She also asked the court to award joint legal custody, but to give her full physical custody and only visitation rights to Nacua.

Lia Thomas will be wiped from the University of Pennsylvania record books ... with the school agreeing to remove any trace of the transgender swimmer's success as part of a deal with the government.

The Department of Education announced the development on Tuesday ... saying the university entered into a resolution agreement to comply with Title IX after an investigation determined it broke the law by "allowing a male to compete in female athletic programs and occupy female-only intimate facilities."

As part of the agreement, UPenn will adhere to President Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" and "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism" executive orders ... and will implement biology-based definitions for the words "male" and "female."

Shaquille O'Neal was back on the set of "Gravesend" Tuesday ... filming scenes for the mob drama while looking far more like a crime boss than a lovable basketball legend.

Check out these images TMZ Sports has obtained ... the 15-time NBA All-Star was decked out in a huge gold chain, a black track suit and some specs as cameras rolled on him for his part in the Amazon Prime series.

Playing "Mustafa," he chatted away with businessman and producer, Jas Mathur, who also has the role of "Miguel" in the hit show.

Sydney Sweeney may have been spotted rubbing shoulders with single A-listers like Orlando Bloom and Tom Brady during Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's wedding weekend ... but TMZ has learned she's not dating anyone.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … the actress is very much single despite the swirling speculation after she was seen spending time on a stroll through the streets of Venice, Italy with both Bloom and Brady.

Our sources say she's not interested in dating anyone after calling off her engagement to fiancé Jonathan Davino. We broke the story ... the former couple separated in January.

Todd Chrisley's revealing one of his biggest behind-bars blowups ... and it wasn't with just any inmate. Nope, it was with the "Varsity Blues" college admissions scam ringleader himself, Rick Singer.

Just weeks after scoring a presidential pardon from Trump, Todd sat down with wife Julie on daughter Savannah’s 'Unlocked' podcast -- where he spoke about how he hit his boiling point when he caught Singer badmouthing Savannah over her taking the Bureau of Prisons to task on behalf of her dad.

Todd claimed he marched straight up to Rick and warned him he didn’t care about the consequences -- saying, "I’ll rip your head off and s*** down your neck if you talk about my child again!"