Transgender Swimmer - should she be allowed to compete

[Oddsocks]

More or less laughable than the alternative of watching transitioned female athletes beating birth female athletes? Yes, it would be a small field but at least they would be competing against their peers and any win would be properly acknowledged; as it stands any victory that a transitioned female athlete achieves is tainted for me, and I suspect the vast majority.

This was my and is my continuous thought on the subject. I don’t know the names so excuse me on this, but surely the swimmer feels a sense of hollowness on her accomplishment knowing that pre transition they were barely average at best? Does she honestly wake up, look in the mirror and feel that she is the fastest female swimmer in the world?

If we look at the golf this weekend, most would agree (even on this forum) that Fitzpatrick is a very slim golfer who has worked hard to increase ball speeds and so on to improve he’s length, if he were to transition he would still be not far off the build of 50% of the LPGA players yet I don’t know many with 120+ mph ball speeds and that is a mix of technique and unfortunately make genetics.

There are many other sports where the highest performing sports women attempt make categories and are simply average by comparison , even in motorsports where it’s less about physical ability.

I’m a believer that born gender is the way to ensure that there is no grey area and if society is to adapt then it’s female or open categories.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Rugby League has now implemented a ban;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/61875651

 

[Oddsocks]

At least they were short and clear stating further research is being carried out.

 

[IanM]

I can't possibly get my head round all this having not been in the situation.

Two things occur to me.

1) If you are wrestling with things like gender transition, I'd have thought getting accepted into swimming comps wouldn't be a priority. Unless it was your profession beforehand.

2) The potential price of open access is damage to womens' sport. The physiological advantage of previously being male, is significant in many sports.

One group will lose out here.

 

[Lilyhawk]

Rugby League has now implemented a ban;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/61875651

Lol. Rapinoe (at the end of article) with the typical “progressive” woke argument that anyone who doesn’t agree with their backward logics is to “step back”.

 

[Dando]

Lol. Rapinoe (at the end of article) with the typical “progressive” woke argument that anyone who doesn’t agree with their backward logics is to “step back”.

Not surprised it was her who made that comment.
she comes across as an arrogant nasty piece of work

 

[Orikoru]

Not surprised it was her who made that comment.
she comes across as an arrogant nasty piece of work

She's an idiot. Whenever I see a comment from her I just immediately think...

 

[Foxholer]

Lol. Rapinoe (at the end of article) with the typical “progressive” woke argument that anyone who doesn’t agree with their backward logics is to “step back”.

That seems, to me, more the author's/BBC's issue as the Rapinoe article was unelated/only tenuously related to the particular article. If anything, it should have been as a link underneath the article as opposed to within it. Bad/biased journalism imo, which is rare to see from the Beeb.