Two biological men who identified as women caused a stir after taking first and second place at a cycling competition in London over the weekend and celebrating their achievement by kissing on the podium, while in third place, a woman holding her baby finished in protest.
The gold medal in the "ThunderCrit" track bike race was won by Emily Bridges, a transgender rider who was banned from participating in the women's race in March and who competed in men's events only the previous month.
In second place was Lily Chant who despite identifying as a woman, is still defined as a male in official records.
The best-performing biological woman of the tournament is Joe Smith, who won a bronze and celebrated with her rivals as she stood on the podium with her youngest daughter.
The podium image quickly spread on social media, sparking outrage among female athletes.
Two men kiss as they celebrate stealing 1st & 2nd place in a womens race ... woman takes care of her child as she stands on the 3rd place she has been relegated to due to male cheats.
This pic tells the story of gender ideology perfectly.
Men first, women & childrenrens needs last.
pic.twitter.com/0rcX8a8UdZ
- Aja ⚢💚🤍💜🦖 (@ Aja02537920) June 4, 2022
British Cycling, the governing body of the industry in the country, which found itself in controversy over trans competitors, said the event was independent and he was not involved.
Swimmer Sharon Davis, who won money swimming at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and has previously spoken out about trans athletes, said she was "very disappointed" with the news about the race.
Fiona Macana, campaign manager for fair competition for women, said: "It is inevitable that if we intend to allow people who have gone through male puberty to enter the category that is supposed to be for women, these people will be more successful."
Two men took 1st and 2nd place in the women's race and this is how a woman who took 3rd place reacted.
#SaveWomensSports https://t.co/K94PpWM07J pic.twitter.com/U7CqGEswzN
- EGGENius 👑🐩🐈⬛🐈⬛ (@DrawingEggen) June 5, 2022
This is not the first time that trans women athletes have caused controversy, when swimmer Lia Thomas won women's competitions and even recently announced that she intends to compete for her place at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, while here in "Israel Today" the story of Taylor Silverman skateboarder is published. Post when she lost in a transgender competition.
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