First Transgender Paralympian ?
Discussion
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-57338207
"In fact, it was only last September that she ran her first official race as a female para-athlete - at the Italian Paralympics Championship, where she won gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m T12 events."
"Her physical superiority is so evident as to make competition unfair," she says, arguing that the IOC's exclusive focus on testosterone "makes no sense" when physique is also a factor.
Well i never !!
"In fact, it was only last September that she ran her first official race as a female para-athlete - at the Italian Paralympics Championship, where she won gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m T12 events."
"Her physical superiority is so evident as to make competition unfair," she says, arguing that the IOC's exclusive focus on testosterone "makes no sense" when physique is also a factor.
Well i never !!
A possible solution is to have separate competing classes.
Good ole fashioned Male & Female events
Trans events for M>F and also F>M
And while we're at it, let's introduce a chemically enhanced category, where competitors can take whatever substance they like. Keep it all separate. It would be all inclusive and a fun family day out with masks.
The world has gone mad.
Good ole fashioned Male & Female events
Trans events for M>F and also F>M
And while we're at it, let's introduce a chemically enhanced category, where competitors can take whatever substance they like. Keep it all separate. It would be all inclusive and a fun family day out with masks.
The world has gone mad.
Jim the Sunderer said:
Sounds like that South Park episode nearly 20 years ago.
There is a more recent & pertinent SP take on ithttps://youtu.be/URz-RYEOaig
billshoreham said:
Valentina Petrillo is a visually impaired runner participating in the Paralympics at a mature age, I wish her well.
Which is all true, but from the other perspective with professional athletes undergoing strict anti doping regimes to ensure they compete on a level playing field allowing an athlete who has a huge artificial advantage to compete makes the whole sport a mockery IMHO.The RFU has had applications from transmen who wished to carry on playing women's rugby.
A bit like having your cake and eating it.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/mar/30/tran...
A bit like having your cake and eating it.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/mar/30/tran...
There is a precedent for this, of sorts.
The effects of androgenic steroids (testosterone and related natural and synthetic hormones) on the human body are well understood. In particular with respect to sport, we know that under the influence of testosterone, it is possible to build muscle. The reason men are, on average, more muscular than women is because of exposure to endogenous testosterone, beginning in puberty (which is why pre-puberty there is little difference in the muscular development between girls and boys). So far, so obvious.
Exogenous steroid use combined with training can build muscle beyond what an individual could achieve naturally, which is why bodybuilders and athletes use anabolic steroids. Again, this is obvious.
The interesting thing physiologically is that one of the things that happens when you train your muscles under the influence of androgens is that the number of muscle cells increases and this effect persists over time, even when the hormone influence is withdrawn and even if training lapses. This means that anybody who has cheated in sport through using anabolic steroids retains a career long advantage even once they’ve stopped doping. This is one argument that’s been deployed against Justin Gatlin, a known serial drug cheat who has continued to win global medals in the 100m sprint into his late 30’s, almost certainly in part due to the lingering advantages that using exogenous androgens conferred to him.
So, circuitously, to the point: drug cheats in athletics do not receive lifetime bans, a la Gatlin, unless they are caught on multiple occasions. This appears to be replicated across all sports I can think of off the top of my head. This means that sporting authorities tolerate the participation of competitors who have gained a lasting advantage through anabolic steroid use. Female transgender athletes also have a lasting advantage due to the effects of testosterone on their musculature from when they were men, but they are not cheats. So if sport tolerates the former (and I don’t think it should) then it weakens the argument for not accepting the latter.
The effects of androgenic steroids (testosterone and related natural and synthetic hormones) on the human body are well understood. In particular with respect to sport, we know that under the influence of testosterone, it is possible to build muscle. The reason men are, on average, more muscular than women is because of exposure to endogenous testosterone, beginning in puberty (which is why pre-puberty there is little difference in the muscular development between girls and boys). So far, so obvious.
Exogenous steroid use combined with training can build muscle beyond what an individual could achieve naturally, which is why bodybuilders and athletes use anabolic steroids. Again, this is obvious.
The interesting thing physiologically is that one of the things that happens when you train your muscles under the influence of androgens is that the number of muscle cells increases and this effect persists over time, even when the hormone influence is withdrawn and even if training lapses. This means that anybody who has cheated in sport through using anabolic steroids retains a career long advantage even once they’ve stopped doping. This is one argument that’s been deployed against Justin Gatlin, a known serial drug cheat who has continued to win global medals in the 100m sprint into his late 30’s, almost certainly in part due to the lingering advantages that using exogenous androgens conferred to him.
So, circuitously, to the point: drug cheats in athletics do not receive lifetime bans, a la Gatlin, unless they are caught on multiple occasions. This appears to be replicated across all sports I can think of off the top of my head. This means that sporting authorities tolerate the participation of competitors who have gained a lasting advantage through anabolic steroid use. Female transgender athletes also have a lasting advantage due to the effects of testosterone on their musculature from when they were men, but they are not cheats. So if sport tolerates the former (and I don’t think it should) then it weakens the argument for not accepting the latter.
Iwantafusca said:
Valentina Petrillo: 'Better to be a slow happy woman than a fast unhappy man'
Proceeds to win multiple medals last September at the Italian Paralympics Championship, where she won gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m T12 events in her FIRST event as a “woman”
Cheat.
Seems legit.Proceeds to win multiple medals last September at the Italian Paralympics Championship, where she won gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m T12 events in her FIRST event as a “woman”
Cheat.
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