She qualified fair and square, but here is why Laurel Hubbard should not compete at Tokyo 2020

Inside the Games ^ | 30 May 2021 | Mark House

[gunsequalfreedom]

That opens the silver and bronze medals wide open.

Among the major contenders for those spots are the American Sarah Robles, whose best total is 290kg but who tends to total in the 280kg range, Emily Campbell from Britain, who just made 276kg at the European Championships and looks good for another 10kg at the Olympic Games.

The deadline for weightlifters to qualify for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is tomorrow (May 31) and there is no doubt about who, among the qualifiers, wins the gold medal for attracting publicity.

That award goes to someone who was unknown in weightlifting at the time of the last Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro five years ago, and who did not make her first lift in international competition until March 2017.

Step forward Laurel Hubbard, the New Zealander who will compete in the over-87 kilograms women’s super-heavyweight category scheduled for August 2.

There are plenty within the sport - you have only to look at social media to see how many - who think Hubbard should not be there.

I admit to being one of them, not because of any outrage at how Hubbard qualified - there is nothing wrong with that - but because her participation will seriously diminish the chances of having a rational discussion about transgender policies. She should not take her opportunity.

Before transitioning, Laurel competed at a reasonably high level through the junior ranks, hitting a 300kg total in the +105 men’s category.

To put that in perspective, that total would have won the past couple of Junior National events in the United States, but would not come close to earning a place on an international team.

At the 2019 Junior World Championships, a 300kg total would have been good enough for last place by 31kg.

In short, pre-transition Laurel was talented, but not a world-calibre athlete.

At age 35, Laurel started competing as a woman in the +90 (now +87) women’s category.

[gunsequalfreedom]

It is breaking news...Well, actually it came out a full 24 hours ahead of the media outlets running with the story so I guess it is breaking breaking news. We need a breaking breaking news category.