Who is Laurel Hubbard?Weightlifter and the first transgender athlete to participate in the Olympics

Laurel Hubbard will make history as the first publicly transgender athlete to participate in the Olympics.

The New Zealander will take the stage on August 2 to participate in the women’s super heavyweight + 87 kg weightlifting competition.

Hubbard, 43, will also become the oldest weightlifter in the Tokyo Olympics.

Who is Laurel Hubbard?

This weightlifter was born in February 1978 and is from Auckland, New Zealand.

Her father, Dick Hubbard, was a wealthy grain company tycoon who briefly served as the mayor of Auckland from 2004 to 2008.

Hubbard revealed that she participated in “a typical male” sport in order to feel more masculine.

In 2017, she said in an interview with Radio New Zealand: “I think if I try something so masculine, maybe I will become like this. But unfortunately, it’s not the case… Some dark periods in life are easier to manage.”

transition

Hubbard began his transformation in 2012 at the age of 35.

Prior to this, Hubbard participated in the men’s weightlifting competition. After the transformation, she began to participate in international weightlifting competitions.

weightlifting

As early as 1998, Hubbard, who was only 20 years old, set a record for men in the New Zealand national youth group with a total score of 300 kg, which was +105 kg in the youth group.

Three years later, in 2001, Hubbard withdrew from the sport, explaining that it “becomes unbearable…just the pressure of trying to fit into a world that might not be suitable for someone like me.”

In 2017, the New Zealander participated in an international competition for the first time as Laurel Hubbard. She won the gold medal in the heaviest women’s group in the Australian International Championships, snatching 123 kg, clean and jerk 145 kg, with a total weight of 268 kg. The result was 19 kilograms more than her closest opponent, but far below the record of 300 kilograms for young men in New Zealand.

In the same year, she also won two silver medals in the 90 kg class at the World Weightlifting Championships in California.

While participating in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia, Hubbard ruptured his arm ligament and was forced to withdraw from the game.

However, she returned to the competition the following year and won two gold medals in the women’s 87kg competition at the 2019 Samoa Pacific Games.

In 2020, she won the gold medal again in the women’s +87 kg category at the Rome World Cup in Rome, Italy.

Hubbard is currently ranked seventh in the IWF Women’s +87 kg competition.

Injuried

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia, Hubbard suffered a serious arm injury when the barbell fell awkwardly behind her.

The weightlifter tried to break the Commonwealth record of 132 kg in the snatch event, while leading the women’s 90 kg or more group at the time of the injury.

She said in a statement at the time: “Three years ago, when I broke my arm at the Commonwealth Games, someone told me that my sports career may have come to an end.” “But your support, your encouragement And your’Aloha’ [affection] Take me through the darkness. “

Tokyo Olympics

In June of this year, Hubbard was confirmed as a member of New Zealand’s 2020 Tokyo Olympic team.

she Eligible to participate in the competition After complying with the rules of transgender athletes and fair play stipulated by the International Olympic Committee.

The rules stipulate that if transgender athletes can prove that their total testosterone level is less than 10 nanomoles per liter at least 12 months before the competition, they can participate in the female category.

Hubbard said in a statement issued by the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) last month: “I am grateful and humble for the kindness and support that so many New Zealanders have given me.” The Associated Press reported last month. .

dispute

In 2015, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) adjusted its rules to allow trans women to participate in competitions as long as their testosterone levels are below a certain threshold.

Hubbard met all the requirements of the International Olympic Committee, but she participated Olympic Games Still under attack.

Previous National Football League Brett Favre Recently criticized her for joining.

“This is a man playing as a woman,” the former Green Bay Packers quarterback told co-host Eric Bolling in an episode of the show last month. Roll with Favre podcast.

“It’s not fair. It’s unfair to men, even if this person wants to be a woman or feels forced-if you want to be the opposite sex, that’s okay. I have no problem. But you can’t compete with it-men can’t Compete with women.”

“If I were a real woman-I couldn’t believe I would say that-and I lost to this person in a weightlifting competition, I would go crazy.”

In May, Belgian weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen (Anna Vanbellinghen) will compete with Hubbard in the same 87 kg class, and she talked about her opponent.

“Anyone who has received high-level weightlifting training knows that this is right in their bones: this particular situation is unfair to the sport and the athletes,” she said.

“Some athletes have missed life-changing opportunities-medals and Olympic qualifications-and there is nothing we can do.”

In an interview in December 2017, Hubbard said: “All you can do is focus on the task at hand. If you continue to do this, it will let you complete…I know I won’t I have everyone’s support, but I hope that people can maintain an open mind and may be able to view my performance in a broader context.”

“All I can do is to be myself, do what I do, and if people find inspiration, that would be great, but this is not what I intend to do,” Hubbard added. “I am who I am. I am not here to change the world. I just want to be myself and do what I should do.”