Weightlifter to become first transgender athlete to compete at Olympics
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will become the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics after being selected by New Zealand for the women’s event at the Tokyo Games, a decision set to reignite the debate over inclusion and fairness in sport.
Hubbard will compete in the super-heavyweight 87+kg category, her selection made possible by an update to qualifying requirements in May.
The 43-year-old, who will be the oldest lifter at the Games, had competed in men’s weightlifting competitions before transitioning in 2013.
“I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders,” Hubbard said in a statement issued by the New Zealand Olympic Committee on Monday.
NZOC chief Kereyn Smith said it was a “historic moment in sport and for the New Zealand team.”
“She is our first Olympian who has transitioned from male to female,” she told reporters.
“We do know that there are many questions about fairness of transgender athletes competing
in the Olympic Games but I would like to take this opportunity to remind us all that Laurel has met all of the required criteria.”
Hubbard has been eligible to compete at Olympics since 2015, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued guidelines allowing any transgender athlete to compete as a woman provided their testosterone levels are below 10 nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months before their first competition.
Some scientists have said the guidelines do little to mitigate the
biological advantages of those who have gone through puberty as males.
Advocates for transgender inclusion argue the process of transition decreases that advantage considerably and that physical differences between athletes mean there is never truly a level playing field.
The New Zealand government gave its support.
“We are proud of her as we are of all our athletes, and will be supporting her all the way,” sports minister Grant Robertson said.
Weightlifting has been at the center of the debate over the fairness of transgender athletes competing against women, and Hubbard’s presence in Tokyo could prove divisive.
Advocacy group Save Women’s Sport Australasia said Hubbard’s selection was allowed by “flawed policy from the IOC.”
“Males do have a performance advantage that is based on their biological sex,” the group’s co-founder Katherine Deves told Reuters TV.
“They outperform us on every single metric – speed, stamina, strength. Picking testosterone is a red herring... We are forgetting about the anatomy, the fast, rich muscle, the bigger organs.”
The IOC has consistently said it is committed to inclusion but the organization is also reviewing its guidelines to take into account the “perceived tension between fairness/safety and inclusion/ non-discrimination.”
Hubbard’s gold medal wins at the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa, where she topped the podium ahead of Samoa’s Commonwealth Games champion Feagaiga Stowers, triggered outrage in the host nation.