For the first time, a transgender male will be competing for a female Olympic medal. Laurel Hubbard was born male but identifies as woman. IOC rules means Hubbard is eligible for competition normally reserved for the female sex. Hubbard will be taking one of the 14 available places in the heavy-weight female weightlifting competition on 2nd August at Tokyo 2020. A female lifter will be watching the event at home because she missed out.
Is this fair? Here are some weight-lifting basics to help you decide.
Weight lifting is divided into weight categories.
The bigger the lifter the more weight they can lift. It would be unfair to allow a heavy weight to compete in a light weight category.
Weight lifting is also divided into SEX categories
Males can lift much more than similarly sized females. Even the smallest males can lift more than the biggest females. That’s because male bodies develop through puberty on high levels testosterone but female bodies don’t. This is called MALE performance advantage.
Where does Laurel Hubbard fit on this graph?
Hubbard weighs between 130-140kg which puts them into the female HEAVY WEIGHT category. Only 2 females qualified for the Olympics with lifts greater than Hubbard. Hubbard is one of the best ‘female’ weightlifters in the world.
Hubbard’s body underwent male puberty and developed on high levels of testosterone until the age of 35. This means Hubbard benefits from MALE performance advantage. Many studies now show that lowering testosterone in adulthood cannot remove than male performance advantage. This means the IOC’s rules that require male-born trans athletes to reduce testosterone to 10nmol/L for 12 months to access female competition do not remove the advantages of being born male.
Source: Best qualification totals for every competitor is publicly available here. https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/weightlifting/olympic-schedule-and-results-date=2021-08-02.htm
How does Hubbard compare to other males?
Hubbard is one of the top lifters in the heavy-weight female category, but can only lift the same as other males half his size!
Hubbard weighs between 130-140kg (20-22 Stone) but can only lift the same as light-weight males of 61-67 kg (around 10 Stone). Hubbard is over twice the size of these males.
Hubbard’s sex is male so is eligible to compete in the heavy-weight male category.
At over 20 Stone Hubbard is a heavy weight male. But Hubbard cannot lift anywhere close to other large males of the same size. Hubbard is nowhere near Olympic standard. Hubbard would not have qualified for Tokyo 2020 in the category that aligns with sex and size.
Female Olympic medal contender OR mediocre male?
Which is it?
China’s Wenwen Li is favourite for GOLD.
She is an incredible female lifter and no-one, not even Hubbard, can hope to beat her. She qualified with a best total lift of 330kg. That’s 40kg more than the next best woman. The real battle will be for SILVER and BRONZE.
USA’s Sarah Robles is a strong medal contender.
This is Sarah’s third Olympic games, and at age 32 this will be her last.
GB’s own Emily Campbell also has the chance of coming home with a medal.
Emily is 27 and from Nottingham. This is the first time she’s qualified for the Olympics. She won the European Championships in April. She’s good. But will she be good enough to beat Hubbard?
Hubbard is aged 43.
This is twenty years older than the average age of the female competitors. Male performance advantage extends an international career well beyond the age any female lifter could ever dream of. None of Hubbard’s competitors will still be lifting at Olympic standard in their forties. Hubbard can lift more than most women despite being well past the age for peak performance.
Who’s missing from Tokyo 2020?
There are only 14 places available per Olympic weight category. Hubbard has taken one of these female spaces. This means a woman has lost out on her place to make room.
That woman’s name is Roviel Detenamo. She’s from Nauru, a small island in the Pacific Ocean. Weightlifting is a big deal in Nauru. Despite a population of only 10,000 this tiny country has produced a total of 10 Olympians, all except two have been weight-lifters.
This should have been Roviel’s first Olympics. She would have been the fourth Nauruan women to ever become an Olympian, and the first ever heavy weight woman.
The IOC’s transgender inclusion policy meant she never made it to Tokyo.
What’s fair? Who should take that coveted female place at the Olympics?
Inclusion for Laurel means exclusion for Roviel. This is what trans inclusion in women’s sport means. Females get excluded from their own category.
Who would you say no to? Laurel or Roviel? Who really belongs in the female weight-lifting?
Whether Hubbard gets a medal or not women have already paid the price.
A woman lost her Olympic dream. She’ll be watching the competition from home instead of being at Tokyo 2020.
Footnote: Who qualifies and how, and what would happen if the rules had not allowed Hubbard to compete.
There are 14 places available. Eight go to the top eight in the world rankings (but limited to a max of one per country). After that there are 5 continental places (best in the world rankings for each continent). However, sometimes these don’t go to the best if a country has already reached its maximum delegation for the sport. The maximum isn’t the same for each country because it gets reduced for team doping violations). The last place is reserved for the best lifter from an underrepresented country (tripartite invitation).
YES: Li (CHN) Ranking spot 1
NO: Meng (CHN) Only one athlete from China allowed
NO: Zhou (CHN) Only one athlete from China allowed
NO: Kim (PRK) North Korea not competing due to COVID
YES: Robles (USA) Ranking spot 2
YES: Lee (KOR) Ranking spot 3
NO: Lysenko (UKR) Ukraine restricted to two females weight lifters (used on other categories)
NO: Son (KOR) Only one athlete from Korea allowed
YES: Saladin (DOM) Ranking spot 4
YES: Campbell (GBR) Ranking spot 5
NO: Ayovi (ECU) Ecuador restricted to two females weight lifters (used on other categories)
YES: Akmal (INA) Ranking spot 6
NO: Espinosa (VEN) Venezuela restricted to two females weight lifters (used on other categories)
NO: Jia (CHN) Only one athlete from China allowed
YES: Hubbard (NZL) Ranking spot 7
NO: Sipaia (SAM) Withdraws from Ranking spot 8 when Samoa pulls out due to COVID
YES: Amoe (AUS) Oceania spot
YES: Vanbellinghen (BEL) European spot
YES: Fischer (AUT) Reallocated African spot
NO: Dalalyan (ARM) Armenia restricted to one female lifter (used on other category)
NO: Gunal (TUR) Turkey restricted to one female lifter (used on other category)
NO: Vennekilder (DEN) European spot already taken
NO: Davronova (UZB) Uzbekistan restricted to two females weight lifters (used on other categories)
NO: Boynuegri (TUR) Turkey restricted to one female lifter (used on other category)
NO: Karolak (POL) European spot already taken
YES: Duverger (CUB) Pan American spot
NO: Correa (CUB) Pan American spot already taken
NO: Brown (GBR) European spot already taken
YES: Erdenebat (MGL) Asian spot
YES: Manumua (TGA) Tripartite invitation (best under-represented nation)
NO: Jahanfekrain (IRI) Was offered Sipaia’s spot but injured
NO: Lo (TPE) Asian spot already taken
NO: Anangono (ECU) Ecuador restricted to two females weight lifters (used on other categories)
YES: Ucelo (GUA) Given Jahanfekrain’s spot.
NO: Kravlova (CZE) European spot already taken
NO: Detenamo (NRU) Tripartite invitation taken.
If the female category was restricted to the female sex only Hubbard would be ineligible. Hubbard’s ranking spot 7 would be taken by Amoe, which is turn would vacate the Oceania slot. Manumua would take Oceania slot, which in turn would vacate the tripartite invitation slot. Detenamo would be the next in line from a country eligible for a tripartite invitation.
YES: Li (CHN) Ranking spot 1
NO: Meng (CHN) Only one athlete from China allowed
NO: Zhou (CHN) Only one athlete from China allowed
NO: Kim (PRK) North Korea not competing due to COVID
YES: Robles (USA) Ranking spot 2
YES: Lee (KOR) Ranking spot 3
NO: Lysenko (UKR) Ukraine restricted to two females weight lifters (used on other categories)
NO: Son (KOR) Only one athlete from Korea allowed
YES: Saladin (DOM) Ranking spot 4
YES: Campbell (GBR) Ranking spot 5
NO: Ayovi (ECU) Ecuador restricted to two females weight lifters (used on other categories)
YES: Akmal (INA) Ranking spot 6
NO: Espinosa (VEN) Venezuela restricted to two females weight lifters (used on other categories)
NO: Jia (CHN) Only one athlete from China allowed
NO: Hubbard (NZL) INELIGIBLE
NO: Sipaia (SAM) Withdraws from Ranking spot 8 when Samoa pulls out due to COVID
YES: Amoe (AUS)
Oceania spotTAKES RANKING SPOT 7YES: Vanbellinghen (BEL) European spot
YES: Fischer (AUT) Reallocated African spot
NO: Dalalyan (ARM) Armenia restricted to one female lifter (used on other category)
NO: Gunal (TUR) Turkey restricted to one female lifter (used on other category)
NO: Vennekilder (DEN) European spot already taken
NO: Davronova (UZB) Uzbekistan restricted to two females weight lifters (used on other categories)
NO: Boynuegri (TUR) Turkey restricted to one female lifter (used on other category)
NO: Karolak (POL) European spot already taken
YES: Duverger (CUB) Pan American spot
NO: Correa (CUB) Pan American spot already taken
NO: Brown (GBR) European spot already taken
YES: Erdenebat (MGL) Asian spot
YES: Manumua (TGA)
Tripartite invitation (best under-represented nation)TAKES OCEANIA SLOTNO: Jahanfekrain (IRI) Was offered Sipaia’s spot but injured
NO: Lo (TPE) Asian spot already taken
NO: Anangono (ECU) Ecuador restricted to two females weight lifters (used on other categories)
YES: Ucelo (GUA) Given Jahanfekrain’s spot.
NO: Kravlova (CZE) European spot already taken
NO: Detenamo (NRU) TAKES THE NEWLY VACATED TRIPARTITE INVITATION
Thank you to one of our supporters for working this complicated system out!