With the New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, a transgender athlete started for the first time at the Olympics.
Of course, everyone at Laurel Hubbard takes a closer look. That is just in the nature of things and is a normal reflex on its history. Are there any suspicious signs? Could the massive physique mean anything? Is there anything reminding you that Laurel Hubbard, the 43-year-old New Zealand weightlifter, was once a man?
This greed for sensation wafted through on Monday the Olympic appearance of Laurel Hubbard, who was born in 1978 as Gavin. The New Zealander had gone through life as a man until she was 34. In 2012, Hubbard had the sex changed in an operation and was now the first transgender athlete ever to compete in the Olympics in Tokyo.
As much as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was praised for this step, the irritations were also great. There was talk of unequal conditions and distortion of competition, the Belgian Anna Van Bellinghen, who, like Hubbards, works in the open weight class (+87 kg), complained in the online portal insidethegames.com: “Everyone who lifts weight at a high level has trained knows very well that this special situation is unfair for the sport and the athletes. “
The story of the transsexual Laurel Hubbard is somewhat reminiscent of the excitement surrounding the South African athlete Caster Semenya, who won Olympic gold over the 800 meters in 2012 and 2016. The intersex Semenya was not allowed to start in Tokyo.
Big burden
Weightlifter Laura Hubbard exercised restraint in the run-up to the games and deliberately avoided interviews. At some point the hustle and bustle became too much for her, at some point she could no longer hear the questions.
How much the New Zealander had suffered from all the controversial discussions became clear in the competition. For many, Hubbard was one of the favorites after becoming runner-up. But for the 43-year-old, all the headlines, all the questions raised by the competition, had obviously become too much. The weightlifter was then unable to cope with this challenge in the decisive competition and was eliminated without a valid attempt.
One can only speculate, but the IOC may not be so unhappy about it. In this way, the functionaries are spared further debates.
The Olympic victory in the over 87 kilogram class went to the Chinese world record holder Li Wenwen, who brought 320 kilograms to the high distance in a duel. The Lower Austrian Olympic debutante Sarah Fischer made it to tenth place with a duel of 220 kilograms. She has already announced that she will start in the low weight class in the future.
