The first-ever transgender athlete in United States history is to take their place at the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo next month.
Chelsea Wolfe, who was born a man, will travel to the Olympics to possibly compete in the BMX biking event. She is a stand-in, or 'alternate', which means that she will only compete if other athletes pull out for injury or some other reason.
Wolfe said of being selected:
"It's taking a bit to fully register that after so many years of work we finally have the @teamusa bmx freestyle squad for the @olympics, and that after so much work and overcoming so many obstacles that I've qualified to represent the United States as the alternate rider. I am positively a different person than when I set off on this journey and I'm so grateful for every experience along the way and I'm so excited and honored to keep working so I'm ready to shred in Tokyo in case I'm needed."
Speaking of her rise to the top of BMX biking, and being transgender, she told reporters:
"I had this fear that if anyone knew that I existed, even some of my idols ... I was scared that they would reject my existence. I have to laugh about that. What's annoying about it is that no matter how hard you work as a trans athlete, people are still going to say, 'Oh, you have your accomplishments because you're trans'."
She added:
"As a kid like any other I dreamed of one day becoming a professional athlete in my sport. But as a young trans girl I feared that I would never be welcome as one of them. That a girl like me could never be a professional athlete."
Many people and campaign groups reject the idea that transgender people should be able to compete in sports categories that are not designed for their biological sex. This is because biological men, even if they have hormone treatment, continue to have stronger muscles, stronger bones and larger organs, which they say gives them an advantage over female athletes that were born biological women.
Women's sports campaigners also point out that while many transgender women, who are biological men, take part and win in women's sport, the opposite is not true. No transgender men, who are biologically women, have ever competed at a high level in the male categories of sports.
Wolfe will not be the only transgender athlete going to the Olympics, a transgender weightlifter has been named in the New Zealand Olympic team, US marathon runner Megan Youngren, and Brazilian volleyball player Tifanny Abreu, will also compete at the Olympics. The first-ever transgender athlete in United States history is to take their place at the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo next month.
[h/t: Daily Mail]
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