Who is The First Transgender Athlete Laurel Hubbard?
Laurel Hubbard, 43, will become the first transgender athlete to participate in the Olympics as a weightlifter.
The native New Zealander is considered a realistic medal contender, as she will take fourth place in the super heavyweight over 87 kilograms on August 2nd.
Is Laurel Hubbard fully transitioned?
Hubbard began his sex change process nine years ago at the age of 35. When he identified and competed as a man, he set national weightlifting records in New Zealand youth competitions, despite not participating in international competitions.
Has Laurel Hubbard had surgery?
Hubbard won a silver medal at the 2017 World Championships, despite almost seeing the end of his career after a serious arm injury at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
A year later, Hubbard won gold at the 2019 Pacific Games, cementing his comeback. Now the Olympic Games are coming up.
“I am grateful and touched by the kindness and support so many New Zealanders have shown me,” Hubbard said in a June statement.
“When I broke my arm at the Commonwealth Games three years ago, I was told that my sporting career was probably over. But their support, encouragement, and Aroha (love) carried me through the darkness.”
The International Olympic Committee drew up a protocol for female transport athletes in 2015.
The guidelines stated that trans women could compete against other women in the Olympics as long as their testosterone levels were below 10 nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months prior to the competition.
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Sports Scientist Entered The Debate About Laurel Hubbard’s Participation At Olympic Games
A world-renowned sports scientist entered the debate over Laurel Hubbard’s participation in the Olympics Games and said there can be inclusion and equity in women’s sport, but not both.
Hubbard will make history tomorrow when she competes in the 50-plus-pound weightlifting class and becomes the first openly transgender female athlete to compete in the Olympics Games.
South African sports scientist Dr. Ross Tucker told Elliot Smith of Newstalk ZB at DRS that society is more about people’s choices than in the past, but when applied to sport, this creates a collision of rights.
“This is an unsolvable problem in sports. There is no solution that satisfies both sides of the polarized debate. At the moment, there is no compromise,” said Tucker, host of the award-winning podcast Science of Sport.
Tucker said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) came with good intentions to enable inclusion, but at the expense of justice.
He said he was aware of 13 published studies of people with suppressed testosterone who were getting between 1 and 10 percent of the benefits.
“This means that there will be a residual benefit… there is no benefit in suggesting that removing testosterone at the end of the process will reverse the process.”
“Sports authorities thought they had the solution. They wanted to be inclusive. They thought we were going to take the testosterone out and get the edge. Unfortunately, that is not happening,” Tucker said.
Laurel Hubbard broke his silence and made his first statement this weekend since announcing his selection for the Tokyo Olympics.
The often controversial Hubbard has remained silent on the issue and kept his first public statement brief.
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