Who is Laurel Hubbard?
Personal information
Nationality: New Zealand
Born: 1978
Age: 42-43
Years Active: 1998-present
Sport: Weightlifting
Medal Record:
World Championships - Silver medal (2017 Anaheim, +90 kg)
Pacific Games - Gold medal (2019 Apia, +87 kg)
Laurel Hubbard is the child of Dick Hubbard, a former Mayor of Auckland City and the founder of Hubbard Foods.
Competing before her gender transition under the given name Gavin, Hubbard set New Zealand junior records in 1998 in the newly established M105+ division with snatch 135 kg, clean & jerk 170 kg, total 300 kg. Those records were later surpassed by David Liti.
In 2012 Hubbard was appointed to the position of Executive Officer for Olympic Weightlifting New Zealand. Subsequently she transitioned to female and became Laurel Hubbard.
At the 2017 Australian International and Australian Open in Melbourne, she competed at the heaviest 90 kg+ category, winning the gold medal with a 123 kg snatch and 145 kg clean & jerk, for a total of 268 kg at a bodyweight of 131.83 kg.
She thus became the first trans-woman to win an international weightlifting title for New Zealand.
Although Hubbard met eligibility requirements to compete, her win sparked controversy, with some other competitors claiming the competition was unfair.
Athletes that were critical of the decision to allow Hubbard to compete include Iuniarra Sipaia, Toafitu Perive, Deborah Acason, and Tracey Lambrechs.
Australian Weightlifting Federation’s chief executive, Michael Keelan, too said it was unfair to other competitors.
Hubbard qualified for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, but an elbow injury during the competition forced her withdrawal from the event while leading the field.
Hubbard won two gold medals at the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa. The decision to allow Hubbard to compete was subsequently criticised by the Samoa 2019 Chairman, Loau Solamalemalo Keneti Sio, and Samoa’s Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi.
In 2020 she won the gold medal in the women’s +87 kg event at the Roma 2020 World Cup in Rome, Italy.
Source: Wikipedia
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A Belgian weightlifter says dealing with transgender issues in sport is “impossible” but the presence of Laurel Hubbard in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games is “like a bad joke” to women athletes.
When the qualifying process for Tokyo ended yesterday (31 May), Hubbard will be guaranteed a place, remembered the Inside the Games.
Hubbard is the first openly transgender athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games in any sport.
Until now, none of Hubbard’s rivals has spoken on the controversial rules that appear to give the New Zealander a huge and, to many, unfair advantage.
Athletes from the United States and Britain are potentially adversely affected but, understandably, they and their National Federations have shown no desire to comment on the controversy.
Belgian athlete breaks the silence
[caption id="attachment_139779" align="alignleft" width="390"]
Anna Vanbellinghen has called Laurel Hubbard’s anticipated participation at the Olympics “unfair to the sport and to the athletes”[/caption]
Anna Vanbellinghen of Belgium has broken the athletes’ silence with a considered statement on Hubbard’s achievement.
Vanbellinghen has a chance of qualifying in the same weight category, the over-87-kilogram super-heavyweights, and is therefore directly affected by the presence of Hubbard, who transitioned to female at the age of 35.
Others have voiced outrage at Hubbard’s presence in women’s sport, most often on social media, but Vanbellinghen is not making a personal criticism.
“First off, I would like to stress that I fully support the transgender community, and that what I’m about to say doesn’t come from a place of rejection of this athlete’s identity,” Vanbellinghen said.
Benefits of taking steroids
“I am aware that defining a legal frame for transgender participation in sports is very difficult since there is an infinite variety of situations, and that reaching an entirely satisfactory solution, from either side of the debate, is probably impossible.
“However, anyone that has trained weightlifting at a high level knows this to be true in their bones: this particular situation is unfair to the sport and to the athletes.”
Vanbellinghen, 27, whose qualifying efforts were disrupted by injury, pointed out that the retained benefit of taking steroids, even years earlier, is widely known.
“So why is it still a question whether two decades, from puberty to the age of 35, with the hormonal system of a man also would give an advantage (in competing against women)?
“I understand that for sports authorities nothing is as simple as following your common sense, and that there are a lot of impracticalities when studying such a rare phenomenon, but for athletes the whole thing feels like a bad joke.
But not at the expense of others
[caption id="attachment_139780" align="alignleft" width="363"]
Hubbard has qualified for the Olympics and could be a medal contender in the women’s super-heavyweight category. She transitioned to female at the age of 35[/caption]
“Life-changing opportunities are missed for some athletes - medals and Olympic qualifications - and we are powerless.
“Of course, this debate is taking place in a broader context of discrimination against transgender people, and that is why the question is never free of ideology.
“However, the extreme nature of this particular situation really demonstrates the need to set up a stricter legal framework for transgender inclusion in sports, and especially elite sports.
“Because I do believe that everyone should have access to sports, but not at the expense of others.”
Samoan Federation Pres speaks
A similar point was made by Jerry Wallwork, President of the Samoan Weightlifting Federation, which has had athletes competing against Hubbard since she transitioned in 2017.
“I was one of the people who opposed it [having Hubbard in Olympic qualifying] greatly back in 2018,” Wallwork said.
[caption id="attachment_139781" align="alignright" width="381"]
Samoa’s Feagaiga Stowers was second at the 2017 Pacific Games, behind Laurel Hubbard[/caption]
But I do feel that we cannot keep throwing mud at Laurel and blaming her, even though our female athletes are in direct competition with her and could miss out on competing at the Olympic Games.
“The decision came from the top (an International Olympic Committee or IOC sub-committee) which approved participation of transgender athletes in women’s weightlifting.
“Changes must be made from the top, from the IOC.
“More research should go into this issue, or a separate category must be established for transgender lifters.
“Especially in contact sports and power sports like weightlifting, there is a disadvantage for female athletes against transgender athletes.”