Laurel Hubbard to go to Tokyo

[Biscuitsanddoombar]

Not a surprise and hopefully it’ll open some eyes about the utter ridiculousness of allowing someone who is male to compete against women in weightlifting

www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/may/05/trans-weightlifter-laurel-hubbard-set-to-make-history-at-tokyo-olympics

@midgedude

Thanks to notbad for finding out who has been displaced

DH is furious and informed me that even with lower testosterone this person will still have physical advantage

He has also been spreading the word with his sporty mates

Sadly, depending on the TV coverage, it will take men rather than women blocking the proverbial phone lines/tweeting at them to make MSM take note of what is happening and whether they should actually acknowledge it.

afaik, the BBC plan at present is not to discuss it.

Two decades. I think the girls he beat last time were in their early 20s and from underprivileged backgrounds in Samoa. I bet most of the women competing will be under 30. It makes me so angry that this idiocy is allowed

RAGE

I'm so angry about this. I don't know what I can do though. Any attempt to raise discussion or to point out the obvious, even when backed up with publications on Pubmed, just gets you shouted down with accusations of being a TERF. You're just supposed to accept it without question.

Talked to my mum about this and she says it's ok as the Olympics won't go ahead (not sure what her source for this is beyond 'trust me, I'm Japanese' but googling in Japanese suggests it very likely IS going ahead)...what do we do? Let people see it for themselves? Protest?

Sure, at the end of the day this isn't the end of the world, but I keep thinking about the women who trained so hard and had their dreams shattered by someone who waltzed in with no background in the sport in middle age (name me a female athlete who did that in any sport and wiped the floor with everyone else, please) and everyone just let it happen, even saying we should cheer it on.

at the end of the day this isn't the end of the world

Mmm, but interesting that attitude is aimed at women.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if Hubbard had to compete against males, either...

The misogyny is difficult to get past.

What TRAs don't understand is that it's irrelevant whether or not Hubbard beats everybody, or anybody for that matter.

People want to watch outstanding women. Not mediocre males.

By male standards Hubbard is pretty rubbish. Not an Olympian, in anyone's book.

at the end of the day this isn't the end of the world

Mmm, but interesting that attitude is aimed at women.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if Hubbard had to compete against males, either...

Yes - what a surprise. On every level - women don’t count even in their own sporting arena.

If LH becomes Olympic champion - the IOC will have excluded half the worlds population that the award is aimed at.

Males winning both the men’s and women’s is insane.

And that doesn’t even consider all the many women whose aims and ambitions that have been booted out the way for one male.

Are female athletes permitted to take testosterone supplements to get their levels up to 10 nmol/ litre? If not, why not.

*Changemusthappen

Ultimately the authorities are condoning drug taking in competition, I am very surprised that this hasn't been raised amongst athletes.*

Exactly this!

I suspect Hubbard will not win. Age, fitness and the fact that Hubbard is a mediocre athelete will likely not get them a place on the podium.

This will be used as evidence that everything is fair and dandy.

But anyone who has taken part in elite sport knows how precious the opportunity to take part is, and especially at the Olympics which by definition (unless you're magically able to extend your performance into middle age by......) is something that will only come around a very few times in an athelete's career.

An Oceania woman who gave her all to try to reach the required standard for Olympic qualification will stay at home because of this. She'll be watching as Stunning and Brave is applauded. What will she be feeling?

@MNybvcx54

Are female athletes permitted to take testosterone supplements to get their levels up to 10 nmol/ litre? If not, why not.

Yes seems a major abnormality, the female competitors are not allowed to increase these to the same level of the male competitors as that would be cheating, but a male competitor having one at least 5 times higher is "brave and stunning" and perfectly ok.

Just so I’m clear - would a woman who had half that level of testosterone be banned for cheating?

Justhadathought

Another example of an athlete who should be well past their prime is Natalie Van Gogh who competes in cycling for a Dutch professional team. Natalie is 46 years old.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_van_Gogh

Yes!

Stop searching for the logic in it. There is none.

The limit is simply to allow men to compete in women's sports so as not to discriminate against transwomen.

There is no similar legislation for transmen. They just get told "If it's too hard or too dangerous - tough!"

The only reason this legislation exists is to placate the loud and angry voices of some male bodied people who wish to compete at the most elite levels and choose to do so in womens sports - for whatever reasons they may have!

@BewaretheIckabog

Just so I’m clear - would a woman who had half that level of testosterone be banned for cheating?

A woman who took any testosterone supplement, even if it didn't actually raise her levels, would be banned for cheating if caught.

@BewaretheIckabog

Just so I’m clear - would a woman who had half that level of testosterone be banned for cheating?

This article might shed some light:

www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-05/esoe-sfr051619.php

They used their data to establish recommendations on an acceptable testosterone level range for elite female athletes, that takes into account whether the levels are high enough to push women's physiology to be more similar to men's. Levels in healthy men are in the range 7.7 to 29.4 nmol/L and 0 to 1.7 nmol/L in healthy women, so for fairness and considering the over-representation of women with naturally higher levels in sport, the team recommended a maximum testosterone level for female athletic events of 5.0 nmol/L to be used in the IAAF and IOC regulations.

@sleepyhead

(unless you're magically able to extend your performance into middle age by......)

But not even extend, Hubbard started in middle age! People don't just take up a sport in middle age and become Olympians. That alone should give everyone pause.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if Hubbard had to compete against males, either...

Mmm-hmm. My husband once tried to defend this by saying it's just sport and it doesn't really matter but didn't have an answer when I asked why it was then so crucial for them to be able to take part in competitive women's sports (I can understand letting kids play noncompetitive sports with their friends)

But not even extend, Hubbard started in middle age! People don't just take up a sport in middle age and become Olympians. That alone should give everyone pause.

Everything about this is a farce. Everything.

I think we’re all waiting for this really aren’t we? It’s going to take a massive competition like the Olympics to show what’s really happening on the ground, infront of ordinary people who are clueless. It will be an Emperors clothes moment.

My husband once tried to defend this by saying it's just sport and it doesn't really matter

It's just sport - one of the biggest industries in the world economy. A much admired area of human endeavour where individual competitors can pick up multi-million contracts and become a role model to others.

Just an area of life that attracts huge tribalism (local, regional, national) and is a major source of social bonding. Something that occupies a substantial amount of MSM coverage and discussion.

My husband once tried to defend this by saying it's just sport and it doesn't really matter

I wonder if he meant, it's just women's sport, it doesn't really matter. Women are supposed to be nice and forget fair play and medals and allllllllll the money that comes with winning so that some special males don't get their feelings hurt.

[quote manatsu]@sleepyhead

(unless you're magically able to extend your performance into middle age by......)

But not even extend, Hubbard started in middle age! People don't just take up a sport in middle age and become Olympians. That alone should give everyone pause.[/quote]
Exactly. It's beyond belief that someone becomes able to compete with the elite in their sport when they only took it up in middle age. It's truly exceptional, and yet it seems to happen quite a bit with one particular group. What could the explanation be?