Broadcaster hits out at Hubbard
New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard has again been thrust into the spotlight, this time by British broadcaster Piers Morgan.
The transgender athlete was to compete at the Australian Open. which began in Canberra yesterday.
Morgan said in his tweet: ‘‘This is insane. Women’s rights to basic fairness & equality are getting destroyed at the altar of political correctness.’’
He linked to an image of Hubbard’s 2017 IWF World Championship successes.
It’s not the first time she has received backlash for participating in women’s sport.
Last year Hubbard faced criticism from Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi when she won two gold medals at the Pacific Games in Apia.
He questioned her eligibility to participate in the Games.
‘‘This fa’afafine or man should have never been allowed by the Pacific Games Council president to lift with the women. I was shocked when I first heard about it,’’ he told the Samoa Observer in July 2019.
In a rare interview in 2017, Hubbard told Stuff she knew not everyone would support her goal of being an elite athlete.
‘‘. . . but I hope that people can keep an open mind and perhaps look at my performance in a broader context,’’ she said. ‘‘All you can do is focus on the task at hand and if you keep doing that, it will get you through.’’
Hubbard transitioned in 2012 and started winning medals in elite women’s international weightlifting in 2017. She became the first transgender athlete to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
If she qualifies for the Tokyo Olympics she will become the first transgender athlete to represent New Zealand at that level.
Other trans-athletes on track to qualify for the Olympics include American BMX Freestyle rider Chelsea Wolfe, US marathon runner Megan Youngren and Brazilian volleyball player Tifanny Abreu.