Free Republic

Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will become the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics after being selected by New Zealand for the women's event at the Tokyo Games, a decision set to reignite the debate over inclusion and fairness in sport. Hubbard will compete in the super-heavyweight 87+kg category, her selection made possible by an update to qualifying requirements in May. The 43-year-old, who will be the oldest lifter at the Games, had competed in men's weightlifting competitions before transitioning in 2013. "I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so...

INDIANAPOLIS — For about a year, the guys at the gym just called him Joe. He lifted weights in the early mornings wearing a skull-printed do-rag. He worked out on the elliptical, wiping it down when he was done.Then one day Shaun Yeary, a salesman at a landscape supply company, asked him in the locker room what he did for a living. “I used to be a priest,” Joe recalled telling him. “And now,” he said, his voice growing quieter so as not to scare anyone in earshot, “I’m the archbishop of Indianapolis.”“I was like, for real?” Mr. Yeary recalled....

ALBANY, N.Y. -- You could forgive a guy for grunting while lifting 500 pounds -- unless you're the owners of a place called Planet Fitness. It turns out that grunting isn't allowed in their universe. Corrections officer Albert Argibay learned that the hard way this week. He was hoisting 500 pounds on a machine at the Wappingers Falls, N.Y., gym when the manager said he grunted -- in violation of the Planet Fitness rules. Argibay said whether or not he grunted is "open to interpretation." What's crystal clear is that police were called to escort him out after the manager...

Abbye Stockton, a pioneer of female weightlifters who helped establish the popularity of Muscle Beach and inspired women through columns in a fitness magazine, has died. She was 88. Stockton, known as Pudgy since she was a child, died Monday at her home of complications of Alzheimer's disease, according to daughter Laura Stockton. "Her biggest contribution was that she was strong and muscular but also managed to maintain her femininity," her daughter said Friday. "She was very attractive, and she was also very concerned with helping others, to share what she had learned about being healthy and fit." Born in...

Ray Hickman of Joseph proved himself to be the strongest man in the world in his weight class last weekend in Reno, Nev. “I’m still in shock,” admitted Hickman, 31, an electrician by trade, who bench pressed 429.9 pounds on his way to a world championship in the 165-lb. division at the Thermalink World Bench Press and Deadlift Championships. The event is put on by the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters...(snip) For Complete Article, Please Click Here.