Laurel Hubbard (born 9 February 1978) is a New Zealand

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

. Selected to compete at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, she was the first openly

transgender woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

to compete in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. Prior to making her Olympic debut, Hubbard achieved a ranking of 7th in the IWF's women's +87 kg division.

Career

While competing in male competitive categories before coming out as

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

, Hubbard set New Zealand junior records in 1998 in the newly established M105+ division in both lifts (snatch 135 kg, clean & jerk 170 kg) as well as total (300 kg). Those records were later surpassed by

David Liti David Andrew Liti (born 11 July 1996) is a New Zealand weightlifter, who won the gold medal in the +105 kg event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. His total lift of 403 kg was a Commonwealth Games record. At the Games' closing ceremony, L ...

. Hubbard has spoken against what she calls "one of the misconceptions that's out there" that she had been training all her life before she transitioned, stating that she ceased lifting in 2001, explaining, "it just became too much to bear ... just the pressure of trying to fit into a world that perhaps wasn't really set up for people like myself". In 2012, Hubbard transitioned to female. She began

hormone therapy Hormone therapy or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also be referred to as hormonal therapy or antihormone therapy. The most general classes of hormone therapy are hormonal therap ...

that year. Hubbard competed in international weightlifting for the first time in 2017. At the 2017 Australian International & 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 A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

to win an international weightlifting title for New Zealand. Although Hubbard met eligibility requirements to compete, her win was met with criticism, with some other competitors saying 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 Tracey Lambrechs (born 27 August 1985) is a former New Zealand Olympic weightlifting, weightlifter who competed in the +75 kg division. She won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and a silver at the 2015 Pacific Games. Australian Weightlifting Federation's chief executive, Michael Keelan, said it was unfair to other competitors. Hubbard qualified for the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, but an elbow injury during the competition forced her withdrawal from the event while leading the field. After the injury, Hubbard announced her probable retirement from weightlifting. Hubbard later returned to the sport, winning two gold medals at the

2019 Pacific Games The 16th Pacific Games (), also known as Apia 2019, were held from 7 to 20 July 2019. The Games were held in Apia, Samoa, returning there for the first time since 2007. It was the third time overall that the Pacific Games were held in Samoa. The ...

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 the 2020 qualification event, she won the gold medal in the women's +87kg event at the Roma 2020 World Cup in Rome, Italy.

2020 Olympics

The

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC) let the

International Weightlifting Federation The International Weightlifting Federation, aka IWF, is the international governing body for the sport of Weightlifting. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, it has 193 affiliated national federations. Mohammed Hasan Jalood has been its presid ...

(IWF) set the requirements for transgender weightlifters to compete at the Olympics. Hubbard met all the requirements and on 21 June 2021, the

New Zealand Olympic Committee The New Zealand Olympic Committee (before 1994, The ''New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association'') is both the National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Association in New Zealand responsible for selecting athletes to re ...

(NZOC) confirmed that Hubbard had been selected for the New Zealand Olympic team to compete in the women's +87 kilogram category, becoming the oldest weightlifter to qualify for the games. This decision resulted in Hubbard becoming the first openly transgender athlete to be selected to compete in the

. Transgender athletes have been allowed to compete at the Olympics since 2004, with the current criteria in place since 2015. The inclusion of Hubbard was welcomed by supporters within the trans community as a step towards more inclusion at the Games. It was criticised by others. Some athletes, scientists and campaigners said that she had a biological advantage due to having gone through male puberty. Weightlifters including Anna Van Bellinghen and

Tracey Lambrechs Tracey Lambrechs (born 27 August 1985) is a former New Zealand Olympic weightlifting, weightlifter who competed in the +75 kg division. She won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and a silver at the 2015 Pacific Games. while Charisma Amoe-Tarrant, who qualified in the same category, supported Hubbard's participation. There were public expressions of support from New Zealand Prime Minister,

Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...

, and sport minister

Grant Robertson Grant Murray Robertson (born 30 October 1971) is a retired New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party who served as the Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2023, as Minister of Foreign Affairs in November 2023, and as the 19th Deputy Pr ...

. The IOC's Medical and Scientific Director

Richard Budgett Richard Gordon McBride Budgett OBE (born 20 March 1959) is a British Medical and Scientific Director of the International Olympic Committee. He won an Olympic rowing gold medal in coxed four at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was c ...

, has advocated for more research into trans participation in sports. At 43 she was the fourth oldest weightlifter to compete at the Olympics and was seen as a medal contender. In front of a large contingent of media Hubbard struggled, with three failed snatch lifts, placing last in her group. Afterwards she thanked the IOC, IWF, NZOC and all her supporters in New Zealand for their encouragement and help throughout the competition. Later Hubbard hinted at retirement, saying that age had caught up with her.

Major results

Personal life

Hubbard's father is

Dick Hubbard Richard John Hubbard (born 18 November 1946) is a New Zealand businessman and politician, founder and former principal of Hubbard Foods in Auckland, and mayor of Auckland City from 2004 to 2007. He was elected mayor of Auckland City on 9 Octob ...

, a former

Mayor of Auckland City The Mayor of Auckland City was the directly elected head of the Auckland City Council, the municipal government of Auckland City, New Zealand. The office existed from 1871 to 2010, when the Auckland City Council and mayoralty was abolished and ...

and the founder of Hubbard Foods. In 2017, Hubbard told an interviewer that she began participating in weight lifting when she was living as male because she hoped it would enable her to become masculine. Hubbard rarely gives interviews to the media. Commenting on criticism she receives for participating in women's weightlifting as a transgender athlete, Hubbard said in 2017, ;Medalbox notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, Laurel 1978 births Living people New Zealand female weightlifters Transgender sportswomen New Zealand transgender women New Zealand LGBTQ sportspeople World Weightlifting Championships medalists Weightlifters at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games weightlifters for New Zealand LGBTQ weightlifters Weightlifters from Auckland Weightlifters at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic weightlifters for New Zealand Pacific Games gold medalists Pacific Games medalists in weightlifting