Is This Fair Competition?

On Friday, Hot Air posted an article about the Tour of the Gila. The Tour of the Gila is what’s known in cycling as a stage race, i.e. a race which takes place over several days. Each stage of the race has a winner, and the person with the lowest overall time wins the overall race. Earlier this week, the race was won by Austin Killips, a trans women.

The article reports:

…Killips also won the climber’s jersey (called the “Queen of the Mountains” jersey in this race) which is a competition within the overall race for those who score the most points on the climbs. To be fair, the overall winner in these type of races is often one of the top climbers so this isn’t unheard of but it’s a sign this was a fairly dominant performance. Killips apparently only started racing in 2019.

The fact that Killips began racing only four years ago and is now winning major victories is telling. Like it or not, men have different body structure than women.

The article notes that not everyone celebrated Killips’ victory:

This isn’t the first time Killips has stirred up controversy in the sport. Last month former champion racer Hannah Arensman quit the sport over having to compete with men including Killips.

…Decisions about who can compete aren’t up to the individual race organizers. Races of this type are governed by a world body called the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) which sets the rules for all sanctioned races including the rules allowing trans women to compete in women’s events. So after the race there were complaints that UCI needed to do something about the rules. Former tennis champ Martina Navratilova was one of the people who complained.

On May 5th, The U.K. Telegraph reported:

The International Cycling Union [UCI] is discussing the possibility of banning transgender athletes from female categories amid the outcry over Austin Killips’s first prize for women at the Tour of the Gila.

Killips’ victory in the premier road race in New Mexico prompted immediate calls for a rethink on rules drafted just last year and the governing body has now announced it is “reopening consultation”.

Telegraph Sport reported on Tuesday how UCI hierarchy is divided at the highest levels over calls to tighten international protections – but it now appears new rules could be agreed upon by August.

In a statement the body said on Thursday “participation of transgender athletes in international competitions was discussed” at a UCI management committee meeting. 

“The management committee decided to analyse the current situation by reopening consultation with the athletes and national federations, and therefore agreed to debate and take an eventual decision at its next meeting, in Glasgow, in August.”

The fact that trans-gender women are competing in women’s sports has cost many young women scholarships and opportunities to compete at higher levels. This is something that needs to change. It may be necessary to create a separate category for trans-gender women to compete in sports. I wonder how many would be competing if they did not have an advantage. Please follow the link to read the entire article at Hot Air. Some of the comments are very interesting.