When Laurel Hubbard put her hands on the barbell at the Pacific Games in Samoa in July, she would have been keenly aware that many dispute her right to compete in international weightlifting as a women.
Hubbard, who took home two golds at the games for New Zealand, is at the centre of a row over whether trans women athletes have an unfair advantage over their cisgendered rivals. Controversy had already flared up when Hubbard qualified to compete at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 after meeting International Olympic Committee requirements to keep her testosterone levels below a given threshold for a year.
Continue reading →