Monday, February 26, 2018

Still Looking For Our First Trans Olympian

Image result for olympic flag
The end of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang also means that we have gone through another Summer and Winter Olympiad since the IOC opened the doors via the 2003 Stockholm Consensus for trans athletes to compete with no trans athlete competing in either Games. . 

The Consensus was subsequently updated so that trans masculine and trans feminine athletes would not require genital surgery to compete in an Olympic Games.

The first Olympics that trans athletes were eligible to compete was the 2004 Summer Olympics in  Athens, and the first Winter Games trans athletes were eligible to compete was in Torino.

Image result for Kristin Worley canada
Canadian cyclist Kristin Worley made a bid to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games that unfortunately fell short and was mired in controversy.  She filed an ultimately successful lawsuit that forced Cycling Canada to open up the sport to trans athletes

On our side of the border trans masculine Keelin Godsey delayed taking testosterone for his transition to chase his dream of qualifying for a US Olympic team. 

Godsey tried to qualify for those same Beijing Games, but finished seventh in the women's hammer throw with a 66.55 meter throw.  Godsey missed qualifying .for Beijing and making history by an agonizing ten feet. 

Godsey did make history by making the US 2011 Pan American Games team and competed in the hammer throw, finishing fifth with his lifetime best of 67/84 meters.

He tried to qualify for the 2012 London Games. Despite making another personal best throw at the US Olympic Trials, he missed qualifying for London by an agonizing eleven inches.

Image result for Lea T Rio olympics
So far the only appearance of a trans person at the Olympic Games has been model Lea T breaking ground as one of the placard models for the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Games.

Hopefully that will change either in the next Summer games in Tokyo in 2020 or the next Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022  and we will finally see a member of our trans family qualify as an Olympic athlete. .

Whoever that trans athlete is that finally does this for transkind, one thing they are guaranteed to get is international media coverage for making that sporting history

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