Member-only story
The Best Women Olympians Will Be Cis Women
While those with a transphobic obsession will bleat on about the supposed threat of trans women in women’s sports, the games will once again show how amazing women athletes are.
There was a lot of significant women’s Olympic news over the weekend. The US track and field qualifier produced a host of compelling storylines in its own right. From Alison Felix qualifying for her fifth straight games to the dominating 100m victory of Sha’Carri Richardson, 2021 is set to be another banner Olympic year for women.
Though pandemic politics will ultimately further the money-grubbing reputation of the International Olympic Committee, the games have frequently been a place for female excellence.
Some anti-trans activists think the days of cis dominance of women’s sports will soon be over, predicting that a wave of trans women athletes will usurp cis women at the highest level of sport.
Another bit of Olympic news over the weekend seemingly furthered their claims, as New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was chosen and is now set to become the first openly trans Olympian in history. Trans women have been allowed to compete as women in some form since 2002, and yet none have openly competed in the games before. Hubbard will break that glass ceiling.
