Another Gold for male-born weightlifter Laurel Hubbard this time at the Pacific games. Hubbard is on track for Olympic Gold at Tokyo 2020. It’s not the women in this photo who should be hanging their heads. Sports policy makers must wake up. #FairPlayForWomen. pic.twitter.com/CJ8sT4Qkub
— FairPlayForWomen (@fairplaywomen) July 13, 2019
Outrage Ensues After Transgender Weightlifter Wins Double Gold
Samoa 2019 chairman Loau Solamalemalo Keneti Sio said Hubbard’s success was “not fair to women weightlifters.”
“There is nothing we can do about it,” Loau said.
“We all know that it is not fair to the women lifters but that is a reality we face in the world of sports.
“The rules have changed and we cannot deviate from these rules. The IOC and IWF [International Weightlifting Federation] do not discriminate against transgender athletes and while this may be hard to accept, we must learn to adapt to these rules because it will not change for anyone.”
The online backlash was even stronger as Hubbard and officials were accused of stealing opportunities from female weightlifters.
Hubbard was the first New Zealander to win a medal at the Weightlifting World Championships in 2017, and was also considered the favorite in the women’s heavyweight category at last year’s Commonwealth Games before being forced out through injury.
She is currently bidding for a place on the New Zealand team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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