TRANSGENDER WEIGHTLIFTER LAUREL Hubbard has announced she will retire in the wake of her groundbreaking appearance at the Tokyo Olympics this week.
The New Zealander on Monday contested the +87kg category weightlifting, in a debut the International Olympic Committee (IOC) described as the first appearance by an openly transgender woman at an Olympics.
While her appearance on sport’s biggest stage was short-lived — an “overwhelmed” Hubbard failed to complete a successful lift — it was hailed by trans activists as a historic occasion for a marginalised community.
It also sparked a firestorm of debate about transgender participation in women’s sport.
The intensely private Hubbard said she was now ready to step away from the spotlight.
“Age has caught up with me. In fact if we’re being honest it probably caught up with me some time ago,” said Hubbard, who at 43 was more than 20 years older than most of her rivals.
“My involvement in sport is probably due, if nothing else, to heroic amounts of anti-inflammatories, and it’s probably time for me to start thinking about hanging up the boots and concentrating on other things in my life.”
Hubbard praised the IOC for showing “moral leadership” in adopting inclusive polices that allowed her to participate at the Games.
“I’m not sure that a role model is something I could ever aspire to be, instead I hope that just by being I can provide some sense of encouragement,” she told reporters.
Critics argue athletes such as Hubbard, who was born male and transitioned to female in her 30s, have physical benefits hardwired into their bodies during their formative years.
These include greater muscle mass and lung capacity, leading to fears that female-born athletes could be forced to compete on an uneven playing field.
The IOC, under guidelines adopted in 2003, only allowed transgender participation for athletes who had undergone gender reassignment surgery but dropped the requirement in 2015, instead focusing on lower testosterone levels.
The governing body is set to release new guidelines on the issue after the Tokyo Games are completed.
Hubbard said she welcomed the discussion about the issues her debut had highlighted.
“I’m certain that a conversation needs to be had,” she said.
“Although we have rules at the moment, they will no doubt change and evolve as more is known about transgender athletes and what that means for participation in sport.”
What a left hook
@Joe Bloggs: what a chin
I watched this live. The punch from Uzcategui was after the bell. Dirrell himself showed allot class and sportsmanship, approaching Uzcategui to say he forgave him. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for Dirrell’s corner. They started a fight at ringside and then when they eventually got in the ring Dirrell’s uncle carried out this cowardly attack on Uzcategui.
Hopefully he was arrested immediate after and charged with assault.
@SYM-Metal: UPDATE: There is an official police report filed. Mr Leon Lawson is wanted on 2 counts of assault in the 1st and 2nd degree,by the state of Maryland.
Mr Lawson was not arrested at the scene and is still at large. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
@SYM-Metal: The bell went when he was swinging. Fair enough it did connect after which is illegal but I don’t think it was 100% intentional.
As for Andre Dirrell, the guy has absolutely no balls whatsoever. It’s sickening how much of a quitter he is. Absolute play acting pretending he couldn’t continue as he knew he had a chance of a DQ win if he quit, it wasn’t as if he was caught with a sucker punch, they were still fighting. He was even getting up and decided to go back down. I would have given him the benefit of the doubt had he not done something similar against Arthur Abraham.
As for his uncle that was despicable, kind of funny I can’t lie, but horrible.
@SYM-Metal: I thought it was marginal if it was late. I think the refs positioning was poor in that situation with dirrell being backed in the corner and uzcategui letting his hands go with the round almost over the ref should have been right on the action,instead of a few yards away. A fighter in the mode of a combo is unlikely to just be able tot stop it when he is already in motion, talking about milliseconds in this instance.
@Seamus Cummins: you could hear Dirrell’s corner telling him to stay down
DJ Khaled should have done more to prevent that
Classy stuff.
Uncle Bam
Poor Dirrell can never catch a break.
@Leon: I think he’s the one catching the breaks and making the most of them.