New Zealander Laurel Hubbard will be the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics.
Tokyo - More than five years after Olympics changed the rules for transsexual athletes, a trans person will compete for the first time.
New Zealand has nominated weightlifter Laurel Hubbard for the women's super heavyweight roster.
"I am grateful and humble for the kindness and support that so many around the country have shown me," said Hubbard in a statement from the New Zealand Olympic Committee.
The 43-year-old lived as a man for the first 35 years of her life.
Olympia in Tokyo * will be your first international weightlifting competition.
Olympia: Laurel Hubbard's participation causes criticism
The Belgian weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen competes in the same weight class as Hubbard and had described a possible participation Hubbard as a "bad joke", as quoted by Deutsche Welle.
She expressly does not want to criticize Hubbard himself or the transgender community, but participation is "unfair to the sport and the athletes".
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New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is the first trans athlete in Olympic history.
© Mark Schiefelbein / dpa
Critics of the inclusion of trans women in sports competitions had complained that, among other things, bone and muscle structure could bring benefits if an athlete had previously lived as a male person.
“We have a strong culture of respect and inclusion.
We are committed to supporting all eligible athletes, ”the New Zealand Olympic Committee is quoted as saying.
The Olympics changed the rules for trans athletes in 2015/16
Hubbards was nominated according to the guidelines of the International Olympic Committee *.
These were adjusted in 2015/16 to prevent discrimination.
The testosterone level of a transgender athlete must have been below a certain value for more than twelve months.
In addition, the athlete must have declared at least four years in advance that her gender identity is female.
This applies regardless of gender reassignment surgery.
According to the “Stockholm Consensus on Sex Reassignment in Sports” from 2003, transgeder athletes were only allowed to take part in men's or women's competitions after all anatomical operations had been completed.
(Tanja Koch) *
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List of rubric lists: © Mark Schiefelbein / dpa
