Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand competes at the women's weightlifting world championships. Photo / Photosport
Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand competes at the women's weightlifting world championships. Photo / Photosport
Laurel Hubbard's silver medals at the world weightlifting championships have created controversy.
Transgender athlete Hubbard claimed silver medals in the snatch and overall categories at the weightlifting world championships this morning, becoming the first Kiwi to win a medal at the world champs.
However, Hubbard's coach, Tim Swords, has claimed that many of the coaches at the world championships have an issue with her competing.
"There was no controversy between the lifters about her presence here, but there was between some of the coaching staffs ... nobody wanted her to win," Swords told Reuters.
Hubbard complies with the International Olympic Committee's regulations on transgender athletes, with those guidelines followed by the International Weightlifting Federation.
Many rivals, however, feel she has an unfair advantage.
Mohamed Hosnytaha, coach of Egyptian bronze medallist Shaimaa Khalaf, and of Egypt's national team, told Reuters: "We didn't agree with it, with somebody who was a man for so long, who has different hormones, different feelings."
As she has throughout her career to date, Hubbard declined to discuss her achievement and refused to attend media conferences.
"She stayed away because she was embarrassed, probably," said Swords.
Simon Kent, the high performance manager of Olympic Weightlifting New Zealand, told D'Arcy Waldegrave on Radio Sport that the issue surrounding Hubbard is complex.
"There's no right or wrong here. Ultimately the IOC have put a consensus statement in place and those are the rules and the constraints that currently govern the situation. But it's new, it's challenging, it's confronting in many ways. Therefore until we understand the physiology more, the psychological aspects more, it's very hard to just make a snapshot judgment."
Simon Kent. Photo / Photosport
However, Kent argues that Hubbard's performance showed more skills than just pure strength.
"She won a silver medal in the snatch portion of the event – a highly technical event. Clearly, there's some strength and power involved but it's also a highly technical event.
"The clean and jerk which, as coaches, we see predominantly as the strength sport, the one the stronger athletes come through and dominate – that's where Laurel finished fourth and tends to struggle a wee bit.
"So there's a lot more to understanding to what it takes to be an elite sportsperson than simply whether you're big, fast and strong."
Hubbard's next challenge will come at the Commonwealth Games, and Kent believes she is a real shot at winning gold.
"There's a Nigerian athlete, Maryam Usman, who's the current Commonwealth Games champion who's very capable of doing these sorts of weights. She was listed to start in Anaheim but didn't compete. [But] as it currently stands, yes, Laurel is looking to really contest that number one spot at the Commonwealth Games."
