Set to make history
Well, “make history” is one way to put it. The Guardian gushes:
Trans weightlifter Laurel Hubbard set to make history at Tokyo Olympics
Laurel Hubbard is a man, and what he’s set to do at the Tokyo Olympics is steal a medal from a woman. The Guardian doesn’t admit that.
History and controversy is expected to be made at the Tokyo Olympics this summer after the transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was effectively guaranteed a place in the women’s super heavyweight category.
Why controversy? Because he’s a man, so it’s cheating. Blatant, shameless, piggy cheating.
It means Hubbard, who won silver at the 2017 world championships and was sixth after a severe injury in 2019, is almost certain to become the first transgender athlete to compete at an Olympics. And while she will be the oldest weightlifter at the Games, she will also have a genuine chance of a medal given her qualifying lifts rank her fourth out of the 14 qualifiers in the 87kg-plus super heavyweight category for Tokyo.
But saying “she” every time you mention him doesn’t make Hubbard a woman. He’s not a woman.
However, her selection will sharply divide opinion between those who see it as an enormous step forward for trans athletes and others who insist she benefits from an unfair advantage.
Ah yes, they “see it” but we insist. Of course we do; we’re Karens.
Under IOC guidelines, issued in November 2015, athletes who transition from male to female can compete in the women’s category without requiring surgery to remove their testes provided their total testosterone level in serum is kept below 10 nanomoles per litre for at least 12 months – a rule followed by the IWF.
However, a number of scientific papers have recently shown people who have undergone male puberty retain significant advantages in power and strength even after taking medication to suppress their testosterone levels. Hubbard lived as a male for 35 years, and did not compete in international weightlifting. But since transitioning in 2012 she has won several elite titles.
At least they admit the significant advantages…finally. That should have been at the top, not buried many paragraphs down.
But having admitted it they then rush on as if nothing were amiss. Prepare for Hubbard’s cheat to pay off.
How does this make sense according to anyone?
BIOLOGY: Hubbard has lived as a male for 43 years.
TRA IDEOLOGY: Hubbard was never a male!
Well, his win will shut up those TRAs who insist that trans athletes have never really won any of the big titles, right?
And the amount of testosterone they allow is still more than women have. Normal testosterone for a woman is between 0.3 and 2.4 nanomoles. 10 nanomoles is still higher than the low end of male testosterone, which is 9.2.
Both statements are true of course. It is an enormous step forward for trans athletes, while simultaneously having huge advantage over the women athletes Hubbard competes against.
Normally I take pride and pleasure in the success of New Zealanders on the world stage. For this, I feel a distinct sense of unease and shame. I’m still thinking of the expressions of distinct disappointment on the faces of the Pacifica women who missed out on titles competing against Hubbard previously. Of course, we all know that feminists only care about white women. /s
He also stole a place on the New Zealand women’s Olympic team from a woman athlete. He’s already cheated at least one woman, whether he wins medals or not. Unless he places last, he will have cheated more women out of their actual Olympic performance ranks.
True.
Why do they need to measure testosterone levels in women? And isn’t Hubbard a woman? What next? Will they want to look in her pants?
That a testosterone test and level is set proves that Hubbard is not what he claims to be.
Depending on how team positions are earned/awarded, Hubbard may already have cheated someone out of a chance to compete.
Huh, isn’t that amazing. Competing so well despite being nearly 40 iirc .
Hm. Didn’t even bother competing until after being permitted to do so in the female division. And succeeding in short order! Truly, Hubbard must be a model of how to work hard…
…Or. Hubbard has been and still is male, and males have major advantages in raw strength – especially upper body strength – even after testosterone reduction.
It’s a real mystery.
Oops, 43!
#2 no, this will be written off as just a single isolated example, proof of nothing.
Sex testing at the Olympics and elsewhere isn’t new, although hormone testing is fairly new. There was a chromosome test in use starting in the 1968 games, and prior to that physical examination. Hormone testing began in 2012 (color me surprised, I thought it started earlier than that). There is a history of suspicions of women athletes actually being men, and several failed sex-verification tests.
Also note that exogenous testosterone is considered a performance-enhancing drug and is prohibited for both men and women.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_verification_in_sports
Wonder if I should place a bet on Hubbard… Though I’m guessing the gambling community isn’t confused about his inbuilt advantages.
“An athlete like myself”: I assume that means “an athlete who wasn’t strong enough to compete as a man”. Because if he means “a trans athlete”, the athlete currently known as Caitlyn Jenner faced no undue barriers to competing in the 1976 Olympics, and did pretty well.
I think it means “a male athlete who’s enough of an asshole to steal a woman’s place in a contest and a woman’s medal in that contest.”