A female powerlifter is blasting Canada’s powerlifting governing body for allowing a male to compete as a woman after he systematically (and unfairly) destroyed the competition. It’s a continuation of the same story from an athlete who has forced himself into the center of controversy.
Trans powerlifter slammed after beating unofficial world record | Sky News Australia
Anne Andres, a dude who claims to be a woman, has been breaking women’s records since identifying as a female powerlifter in 2020. And Andres did so once again at the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s 2023 Western Canadian Championship.
Andres participated in the Female Masters Unequipped category, finishing with a score of 597.5 kilograms, which was over 200 kilograms more than the runner-up, SuJan Gill, who held a 387.5 kg score. So, essentially, this male-born competitor won the contest by lifting over 60% more weight than the closest opponent. He also set the unofficial women’s record in the process.
The crazy thing is it’s totally legal and deemed ‘fair’, at least according to the gender self-identification ‘policy.’ This allows athletes to compete based on their preferred gender – without requiring them to submit information about their hormone levels.
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Not so fast though, says veteran performer April Hutchinson, a real, live female on the same circuit. She posted a video online recently, calling Andres’ victories and records, “completely unfair”. She also noted that – essentially – anyone can simply say they are a female and gain an easy physical advantage, before adding, “Bodies play sports, not identities”.
“It’s been very disheartening the national record that he broke,” Hutchinson told Fox News. “Athletes have been chasing that for years. And we’re talking we’re talking top athletes who have been training and training and training.”
Despite protests, there has been no official word yet on whether or not the sport’s sanctioning body will take action to prevent Andres from further competition. By all indications on the lofter’s Instagram page, he plans to do so.
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