Laurel Hubbard, born February 9, 1978 in Auckland, New Zealand, became the first openly transgender athlete selected to compete the Olympic Games.
Prior to her transition, Laurel set junior records in weightlifting in 1998, but stated she had ceased lifting in 2001 saying it became to much to bear, trying to fit into a world that wasn't set up for transgendered people.
She transitioned to female in 2012 and in 2017 competed in international weightlifting for the first time at the Australian International & Australian Open, winning the gold medal in the heaviest +90 kg category. She was the first trans woman to win an international weightlifting title for New Zealand.
In 2019, she won two gold medals at the Pacific Games in Samoa. In 2020, she won the gold medal in the women's +87 kg even at the Roma 2020 World Cup.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) set the requirements for transgender weightlifters to compete at the Olympics. On June 21, 2021, the New Zealand Olympic Committee determined Hubbard met all the requirements and selected her to be the first open transgender athlete to compete in the 2020 Olympic Games, set for Tokyo in 2021.
Unfortunately, she was also the oldest weightlifter at 43, to compete at the Olympics and she placed last in her group.
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