New Zealand signs its first transgender athlete in Tokyo 2021
New Zealand weightlifting Laurel Hubbard becomes the first openly transgender athlete in Compete in the Olympics After the sports authorities confirmed, Monday, that he will be part of his country’s team in the appointment that will start in the coming weeks in Tokyo.
This was determined by the President of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, Keren Smith Hubbard, 43, was born a man but turned into a woman, meets all requirements for the participation of transgender athletes.
“We recognize that transgender identity in sport is a highly sensitive and complex issue that requires a balance between human rights and equity on the ground,” he said in a statement.
In 2015, the International Olympic Committee established rules that allow any transgender athlete to compete as a woman, provided they have had testosterone levels below 10 nmol per liter for at least 12 months before the first competition.
Hubbard, who also competed as a man, She was recognized as an athlete after she showed lower-than-allowable testosterone levels by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). However, his critics appreciate that he begins with a physical advantage because he was born male, to the detriment of female athletes.
it is cold He will compete in Tokyo in the over 87 kg categoryIt ranks sixteenth in the world rankings. Hubbard has been out of competition for a long time, after sustaining an elbow injury during the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
“I am grateful and humbled for the kindness and support so many New Zealanders have shown me,” Hubbard, who began the gender reassignment process in 2012, said in a statement. “When I broke my arm at the Commonwealth Games three years ago, I was told my career might be over. But their support, encouragement and show (their love in the Maori language) led me through the darkness.”
His best overall record on the leaderboard is 285 kilo, a brand that places it among the most prominent athletes with the possibility of hanging a medal in the Japanese event.
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