I really urge people to read Lauren Fleshman’s book to understand what girls go through in running. There are huge drop out rates in girls’ sports and running is one of the worst. Girls before puberty are extremely fast. It is not uncommon at all to be in a race and be crushed by some tiny speedy 13 year old.
But while boys develop in a linear way, getting faster through puberty as testosterone surges, girls often show dips in performance. A young 13/14 year old girl wins all the races, then starts developing and sees her performance fall off. This is where you see rampant eating disorders as girls try to get the tiny bodies they believe are necessary to win. This isn’t helped by the very scant uniforms “elite” women and girls wear. Girls end up ruining their running careers and life by trying to be as thin as possible (coupled with the high anxiety and perfectionist types than gravitate to running as well.)
In college, age 18-23, men get their biggest surge in testosterone and you expect to see big jumps in performance. At the same time, women are at their highest surge of estrogen. Right when top programs are putting intense pressure on women to win to “deserve” their scholarship is right when many women experience body changes. If you are patient, your body will adjust but coaches want to win, so women are given no grace and the next young recruit will take her spot. Because sports are based on male performance and development, coaches and programs aren’t great about understanding the different development patterns of girls and women or things like periods and training. Huge shaming and pressure is put on women leading to injuries, eating disorders, depression, and dropping from the sport.
Many of us come back to the sport in our late 20s, 30s and 40s and find we are running great, can run amazing after giving birth, and can be strong and fast without starving our bodies. We’ve learned to train with our bodies not against them. Many seek out women coaches and all-women groups.
Trans girls and women in the sport don’t only have the unfair biological advantage, it also contributes to the culture in which female bodies and development are shamed and seen as a negative. Coaches used to say “boobs, butts, and boys” were the reason girls performance dropped - blaming and shaming struggling girls for being “fat” and “shallow” and “lazy” rather than simply having different biological development. Mary Cain, a brilliant young star, was publicly berated and called fat by Nike Coach Alberto Salazar, leaving her self-harming as a result. How do you think those girls now feel not only lining up against someone with male puberty but also no breasts, etc.? Those girls are going to feel they have to starve themselves to look as little like a woman as possible in order to win.
The athlete, Ryan, is a child doing what they believe they have a right to so it’s the responsibility of their coaches and parents to teach them. Ryan should be able to run, as should everyone. Running is a great sport. But Ryan should either compete in the male category or if Ryan wants to run for fun and not compete or run to improve their times and challenge themself there are lots of runners who never qualify to big meets but enjoy the sport anyway. But Ryan should not be competing with elite girls. Ryan shouldn’t be bullied or treated badly, they are very young. But this situation isn’t just unfair for the girls it’s really dangerous for the development and health of young female athletes.