It was the first time that an43-year-old openly trans woman Laurel Hubbard, a 43-year-old from New Zealand, competed for on the Olympic stage this week. Hubbard’s personal best result in Atac is 132 kilograms, although this time she was unable to lift 125 kilograms.
Leaving the stage, Hubbard smiled at the audience and sent a heart shape. ” My result was not what I had hoped for, but I’m very grateful for the support I received from so many people in New Zealand, ” Hubbard told reporters. The weightlifter also added that she knew that her participation in the Olympics was “controversial”. The athlete thanked the International Weightlifting Federation for its commitment to inclusiveness.
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In 2012, after Hubbard’s hormone therapy and coming out, she became the first publicly trans athlete to win the 2017 World Championships. At the time, she was criticized for competing among women, which sparked a debate over how fair such participation is, and the debate continues to this day. The restriction, which prohibits athletes from participating in the women’s section if their blood contains 10 nanomoles of testosterone per liter, also harms gay athletes who do not meet these standards. This restriction has affected, for example, Custer Semenya, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masling – black runners who have been banned from the Olympics due to alleged elevated testosterone levels.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not allow another athlete to compete in the Olympics – runner-up Sese Telfer, who failed to meet the set standard for hormone levels. However, the Olympic Committee acknowledges that this restriction on hormones is outdated. ” We used to think that men had low levels of 10 nanomoles of hormones, but now we know that they go up to 7 and may be higher in women, ” Richard Baggett, director of medicine and science at the International Olympic Committee, told the British News. . ” Agreeing on other numbers is also impossible and irrelevant. The debate on this can be endless. ”
source: them.us
