BMX rider Chelsea Wolfe will instead compete in the Tokyo Olympics, making him the first transgender Olympic athlete in Team USA history.
Wolf won the position by finishing fifth in the World Championships, but only has a chance to compete in the Olympics if either qualifying rider Hanna Roberts or Peris Venegas drops out.
In an Instagram post, Wolf responded to her historic achievements.
“After years of work, I finally got the @olympics @teamusa bmx freestyle team, and after overcoming a lot of work and a lot of obstacles, I fully registered that I was qualified to represent the United States. It will take some time to do it, as an alternative rider, “she wrote.
“I am a positive person different from when I embarked on this trip, and I am very grateful for all my experiences so far. I am very excited and honored to continue working, so just in case. Ready to shred in Tokyo. “I need it.”
BMX rider Chelsea Wolfe will compete in the Tokyo Olympics instead, and in doing so will be Team USA’s first transgender Olympic athlete. (Right) Wolf will participate in the UC IBM X Freestyle Park World Cup on the third day of FISE Hiroshima held at the former Hiroshima Municipal Stadium held in Hiroshima on April 21, 2019.
Born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida, Wolf began competitive racing at the age of six and ran around local skateparks at night.
At the age of 15, he replaced his regular bike with a trick bike and started riding freestyle. For many years she competed with male athletes to hide her transgender female identity.
“If anyone knew I existed, even some of my idols … were afraid they would reject my existence,” said 26-year-old Wolfson. I called the Reuters Foundation.
When she was released in 2014, Wolff said most of her fellow riders welcomed her, but tried to undermine her by seeing her biological sex as an unfair advantage. Some people did.
Wolfe received social media support from several groups, including SPARTA, which claims to be a “transgender military organization.”
“I have to laugh about it,” she said. “The trouble with that is that no matter how hard you work as a trans-athlete, people will still say,’Oh, you’re a trans, so you have your achievements.’
The inclusion of transgender athletes in elite women’s sports has been highly controversial. Critics argue that being born as a man brings physical benefits after the transition.
A Justice Department lawyer has asked a West Virginia judge to revoke state law that prohibits transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports in middle school, high school, and college.
“Like any other kid, I dreamed of becoming a professional athlete in my sport one day,” Wolff wrote on Instagram earlier this week. “But as a young transgender girl, I was afraid that I would never be welcomed as one of them. A girl like me could never be a professional athlete.”
Wolff went on to say, “I haven’t become her yet, so I faced the realization that no one I needed to see when I was young.”
Chelsea Wolf will fly during the 2019 tournament in Hiroshima, Japan
Officially, male-to-female transathletes are allowed to compete in the Olympic Games from 2016, based on IOC guidelines, if testosterone levels remain low enough for a year.
On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Justice Department said that measures enacted in West Virginia and Arkansas should be withdrawn in court, in a wave of Republican-backed state law limiting transgender rights. Made the strongest statement against
When asked about the policy, the IOC told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that it was up to the Global Association of International Sports Federation to determine eligibility rules for specific sports and events.
A requirement issued this month by UCI, the world governing body for cycling, requires transgender women to keep testosterone levels below a certain level for 12 months and sign a declaration that their gender identity is female. ..
Transgender athletes do not need to have legal approval for gender identity or undergo anatomical surgery to qualify for competition.
However, many major sportswomen have blamed their inclusion, claiming they have greater muscle mass, bone strength, and vital capacity.
Other candidates to be the first trance Olympic athletes include New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard. Laurel Hubbard sparked a heated debate on this issue with his gold medal-winning performance at Pacific Games last year.
Idaho’s law is blocked by an injunction, but nine states now have legislation banning women’s sports for transgender athletes.
According to LGBT + advocate Athlete Ally, US marathon runner Megan Youngren and Brazilian volleyball player Tifanny Abreu (pictured) also want to compete in Tokyo.
According to LGBT + athletics advocacy Athlete Ally, US marathon runner Megan Youngren and Brazilian volleyball player Tifanny Abreu are also participating in the Tokyo Olympics.
In the United States, the debate over transathletes focuses on school sports, and at least five states are considering legislation that limits children to competition in leagues that match their biological gender at birth. ..
Wolff criticized movements such as “illness”, accusing conservative U.S. lawmakers of “trying to prevent us from participating in sports altogether and stop the existence of elite trans-athletes in the first place.” ..
Wolf trains an average of three hours most days to match his work at a local grocery store.
She will host another major tournament in Hiroshima, Japan in April this year before the USOC decides who to send to the Team USA Olympics.
“My goal is to go as far as I can,” Wolff said. “And if that means gold at the Olympics, then it’s cool. But if not, I’m proud of everything I’ve achieved so far.”
Another transgender athlete, American marathon runner Megan Youngren, also wants to go to Tokyo.
