The public image of women in sports has changed throughout history. In the beginning, sports were only for men, as the female body was considered unsuitable for sports activities, which is why women were not allowed to participate in sports competitions. This has changed over time, women have become more accepted in sports, and the women's movement in the 19th century has been a major step forward. Although women are more accepted in sports today than ever before, there are certain societal stereotypes that female athletes face that affect their motivation and performance, which are the subject of this paper. In addition to the prevailing stereotypes, the emergence of gender ideology has also led to certain changes in sports and sports competitions. Gender ideology is a theory that a person's identity is not determined by the biological sex they were assigned at birth. Gender ideology wants to give people the freedom to identify themselves according to their own feelings, not according to their biological sex. It is a topical issue whose moral, religious and ethical aspects are still being questioned. This thesis, among others, addresses the issues of identity and the influence of gender ideology on sports and sports competitions using the example of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. The cases of athletes Maria Jose Martinez-Patino and Caster Semenya were also taken as examples of situations athletes may find themselves in due to their appearance, health condition, or hormones, due to undefined sporting rules that change regularly and lack of discretion on the part of the media of all kinds.