Barker and Evans among the medals at World Cup
Megan Barker won silver and Neah Evans bronze as Britain took their medals tally to six at the opening round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup.
Welsh rider Barker finished second behind Australia’s Ashlee Ankudinoff in the 40-lap scratch race in Saint-quentin-en-yvelines, while Evans collected her second medal of the weekend with bronze in the omnium.
Scotland’s Evans had won silver with Emily Kay in the madison on Saturday and followed up by powering to a third-placed finish behind Holland’s Kirsten Wild and Italian Letizia Paternoster.
Britain won two silvers on Friday through Mark Stewart in the individual points and the men’s team pursuit, while Ollie Wood claimed silver in the men’s omnium.
Meanwhile, the American bronze medallist who lost a World Championship race to a transgender woman from Canada has criticised the result as unfair.
“First transgender woman world champion... ever,” Rachel Mckinnon, an assistant professor of philosophy at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, bragged in a tweet that triggered an extensive debate. Mckinnon gave a talk at the College of Charleston earlier this year asking: “Is it fair for transwomen athletes to compete in women’s categories?”
While Mckinnon argues it is, the bronze medallist felt another way at the finish of the worlds.
“It’s definitely NOT fair,” Jennifer Wagner, the third-place finisher from Houston, said in response to a tweet by Right-wing ex-radio host Katie Hopkins. Hopkins tweeted an image of the three cyclists on the podium with this caption: “For clarity – this was the WOMENS world championships. I repeat. Women’s. Congratulations to the brave faces of silver & bronze. The world is gripped by a febrile madness.”
Carolien van Herrikhuyzen, the Dutch silver medallist, and a friend of Mckinnon, disagreed. She wrote: “No one is a transgender to steal anyone’s medal. We had an honest race under UCI rules. If you compete you accept the rules, otherwise, don’t compete.”
Four days later, after a firestorm of controversy, Wagner apologised to Mckinnon, adding that she will work to get the rules changed offline to avoid more controversy.
But Mckinnon refused to accept her apology: “She merely apologises for being caught saying it publicly. She wants to ban trans women from competing. They will fail…”