Trans ruling confuses riders
Three-week gap in athlete’s move from male to female division causes stir
Confusion around the crossover period of transgender athletes is seeing some Kiwi downhill mountain bikers shy away from competition in the sport, a former world No 2 junior says.
It’s a result of Kate Weatherly’s involvement in women’s divisions not because she’s a transgender rider, but because there was just a threeweek period between her competing in male and female divisions.
Weatherly, who won the national women’s championship in Wanaka on Sunday, rode as a male until December last year, then competed as a woman for the start of the 2018 National Downhill Series last month.
With no notice that Weatherly would be allowed to ride in the female division so soon after, fellow rider Shania Rawson said there was a bit of confusion around the rules.
“She’s been riding as a guy for four or five years then with no stand-down period whatsoever she was in the girls’ category,” Rawson said.
“I’ve got nothing against Kate at all . . . I’m just confused by the rules and am trying to figure it all out.”
Cycling New Zealand’s transgender policy states that those who transition from male to female were eligible to compete in the female category under two conditions, the first of which was the athlete declaring her gender identity is female. That declaration cannot be changed for a minimum of four years.
Secondly, the athlete must demonstrate that her total testosterone level in serum has been below 10 nmol/L (nanomoles per litre) for at least 12 months prior to her first competition, with the requirement for any longer period to be based on a confidential case-by-case evaluation, considering whether or not 12 months is a sufficient length of time to minimise any advantage in women’s competition. It also states the national body and its members should treat a transsexual person as belonging to the sex they identify as, unless this might give the transsexual person an unfair advantage, or would be a risk to the safety of competitors. Rawson, the former No 2 junior women’s rider in the world, finished second to Weatherly in the National Championships in Wanaka at the weekend — 13 seconds behind. Thirdplaced Amy Cole crossed the line 47 seconds behind Weatherly. It was a small field for the elite women’s championship race, with just five starting riders. Rawson said a number of girls didn’t want to race as they felt it was unfair for Weatherly to be allowed to ride immediately. Weatherly had com- municated with Cycling New Zealand to ensure she was well within the limits they had set before she switched to the women’s field. However, she said perhaps her being allowed to switch over at the start of the year should have been more widely broadcast so everyone was aware of it.
“I know some people thought I made the switch over as soon as I was able to when that wasn’t the case. It happened to be that time when everything seemed like it would be the easiest time to make that switch.
“Maybe the discussion needed to be released in a more public way.”
Rawson said she and some other riders in the women’s division had reached out to Cycling New Zealand for clarification on the rules since, however chairman Andrew Matheson said he was not aware of any concerns from other riders.