TRANS TASSIE STOUSH
Aussie weightlifting bosses want Kiwi banned from our Games
THINGS are getting heavy in the weightlifting — and there is still more than a month to go before the Commonwealth Games start. Kiwi transgender woman weightlifter Laurel Hubbard (pictured) is at the centre of a storm, with Australian weightlifting officials
demanding the athlete be banned because of an “unfair advantage’’ over female rivals. Australian Weightlifting Federation CEO Michael Keelan has sent a protest letter to the Commonwealth Games Federation, demanding a change to rules that allow trans athletes to
compete. New Zealand officials refused to comment and blocked an interview with Hubbard, 39, who previously competed as a male weightlifter and began transitioning four years ago.
AUSTRALIA has called for a champion transgender woman weightlifter to be banned from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games because she has an unfair advantage over female rivals.
Australian Weightlifting Federation CEO Michael Keelan fired off a protest letter to Games officials after New Zealander Laurel Hubbard – formerly a successful male weightlifter named Gavin – was granted permission to compete in the women’s event.
Officials have ruled Hubbard has met international guidelines after undergoing at least 12 months of hormone therapy and recording low levels of testosterone in tests.
Hubbard, 39, who began transitioning four years ago, upset some fellow competitors after winning a silver medal in the women’s 90kgplus division at the world championships and gold at an international event in Melbourne last year.
As a male weightlifter in 1998, Hubbard was a New Zealand national junior record holder in the 105kg division.
In his letter Mr Keelan warned that male weightlifters had a significant advantage over women, even after transitioning.
“Ultimately, it is our strong view that weightlifting has always been a gender-specific sport, male and female, not a competition among individuals of various levels of testosterone,” he wrote.
The letter, sent to the International Olympic Committee, the Commonwealth Games Federation and the Australian Olympic Committee, asked for the rules to be changed.
“The International Weightlifting Federation should clarify why the current criteria are considered appropriate, adequate and fair,” Mr Keenan wrote. “Otherwise an alternative to the status quo should urgently be considered.”
Australian weightlifter Deborah Acason, who will have to compete against Hubbard on the Gold Coast, said Games organisers should have a tough and uncomfortable conversation about transgender athletes.
“For the future of women’s sports, we need to talk about it,” Acason said.
Commonwealth Games Federation president Louise Martin said there was no “moral, ethical or legal basis” to stop transgender athletes from pursuing their ambitions.
The New Zealand weightlifting team declined to comment or approve an interview with Hubbard.
But New Zealand woman Tracey Lambrechs, who lost her position when Hubbard entered the sport, spoke to the Bulletin. She said she was still able to make the Kiwi team by dropping a weight class, but feared the decision to allow Hubbard to compete would damage the sport.
“I’ve had a lot of females ask what the point of weightlifting is when this could happen,” she said. “They could work so hard and get to the top only to lose out.’’
I’VE HAD A LOT OF FEMALES ASK WHAT THE POINT OF WEIGHTLIFTING IS WHEN THIS COULD HAPPEN
TRACEY LAMBRECHS