If trans athletes can compete in female events, then women’s sport is finished
by Daley Thompson, Daily Mail:
Competing in the decathlon – at which I won the gold medal at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games – I’ve seen performances by some inspirational women.
But the truth is, no matter how hard they trained, they could never have matched my times (other than the 1,500metre run, where some women could beat me).
My physique was too different – too male. It would have been grossly unfair for me to compete against them. My victory would have been a travesty.
So when I see trans women like American swimmer Lia Thomas or Canadian cyclist Veronica Ivy (formerly known as Rachel McKinnon) on the podium, I know they are biologically male and physical advantage has helped them to win.
All my sporting instincts rebel against that. For sport to mean anything, it must be fair.
That’s why we need clarity – such as that offered by Boris Johnson, who said: ‘I don’t think biological males should be competing in female sporting events. Maybe that’s a controversial thing to say, but it just seems to me to be sensible.
‘I also happen to think that women should have spaces – whether it’s in hospitals, prison or changing rooms – which are dedicated to women.’
I, too, strongly oppose allowing trans women to take part in female sports. I don’t consider this controversial, nor political. It’s about fairness.
Trans athletes say they do everything possible to compete fairly, for instance by taking testosterone blockers.
Let us put aside the fact that I have strong reservations about the use of any hormone-altering drugs in sport.
But it seems patently obvious that no pill can wipe out the benefits that come from growing up biologically male in terms of muscular and skeletal strength.
These trans women have been through male puberty. They have longer limbs, broader shoulders, thicker bones, better power-to-weight ratios and larger heart and blood volumes.
Nothing they can do will change that: they are always going to outperform biological women.
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