The Commonwealth Games Federation has rejected a call from the Australian Weightlifting Federation to have a New Zealand transgender athlete barred from competing at April's games on Australia's Gold Coast.
The chief executive of the Australian federation, Mike Keelan, wrote to the International Weightlifting Federation calling for New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard to be excluded from the games because she has a physical advantage over "female- born" athletes.
Green light: New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard will be allowed to compete at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Photo: AAP
"Ultimately, it is our strong view that weightlifting has always been a gender-specific sport, male and female, not a competition among individuals of various levels of testosterone," Keelan said.
"In our respectful view, the current criteria and its application has the potential to devalue women's weightlifting and discourage female-born athletes from pursuing the sport at an elite level in the future."
Keelan said the IWF "should clarify why the current criteria are considered appropriate, adequate and fair."
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SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
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