Transgender rider causes confusion for New Zealand downhill race field
Lack of stand down period upsets some competitors
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Confusion surrounding the crossover period of a transgender athlete, Kate Weatherly at the New Zealand National Downhill Champs last week baffles athletes who talk about no 'stand down' period and lack of knowledge of the move of categories.
The news comes as a result of Kate Weatherly's involvement in races but not because she's a transgender rider, but because there was just a three-week period between her competing in male and female categories. Last Sunday Weatherly won the national women's DH championship, 13 seconds ahead of her closest competitor, Shania Rawson, but up until December last year rode in the men's categories.
Our source, the NZ Herald, quotes Shania Rawson a top NZ junior downhiller, who said there was a bit of confusion around the rules:
"She's been riding as a guy for four or five years then with no stand down period whatsoever she was in the girls' category, I thought there would be some sort of stand down period for that situation. I've got nothing against Kate at all…...I'm just confused by the rules and am trying to figure it all out."
Kate Weatherly said perhaps her being allowed to switch over at the start of the year should have been more widely broadcast so everyone was aware of it.
"It's kind of one of those things where I'd like everyone to be on the same page," Weatherly said. "If everyone's not happy then maybe everyone's not doing their best racing and I just want everyone to be having fun and doing their best."
"I know some people thought I made the switch over as soon as I was able to when that wasn't the case. It happened to be that time when everything seemed like it would be the easiest time to make that switch.
"I talked to some of the other competitors beforehand and at the time they had been supportive of me. Some of them are still supportive, some of them aren't, but maybe the discussion needed to be released in a more public way."
The sport's governing body, Cycling New Zealand, has a transgender policy which says that those who transition from male to female were eligible to compete in the female category under two conditions:
- The athlete declaring her gender identity is female and that this declaration cannot be changed for a minimum of four years.
- Secondly, the athlete must demonstrate that her total testosterone level in serum has been below 10 nmol/L (nanomoles per litre) for at least 12 months prior to her first competition.
The full policy can be found here.
Rawson is said to have intimated that there was a small number of women's race entries in the NZ National Champs as quite a few didn't want to race as they felt it was unfair for Weatherly to be allowed to ride immediately. Quite what difference delaying Kate's first race in a female category might have had, we're not sure. It's worth noting too that last year there were 8 female competitors for the 2017 National Champs and this year there were 12 so unless it was due to be a bumper year for women's DH racing at the champs, Shania's claims might be a little unfounded.
This is clearly a complicated case with the overarching subject of fairness playing a leading role. No doubt Cycling New Zealand's policy aims to prevent any physical disadvantage given to a transgender rider switching categories but clearly some ladies that race in the NZ Champs have been surprised by the move.
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