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The End of Women’s Professional Sport

mujeres en deportes, El American

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Reality is sometimes so painful that some stubborn people go through life with their eyes closed pretending they do not realize what is happening.

Men and women are biologically different. Physically, men are stronger than we are. Those who refuse to accept this reality – which for some strange reason disturbs them – and seek with their political activism to permeate all aspects of life, including entertainment and sports, are turning the world into a place full of fights, hatred and unprecedented situations. The stakes are not low; for example, if things move forward, we could be witnessing the end of women in professional sports.

Laurel Hubbard, who was born male but identifies as a woman, has been confirmed as the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics. Hubbard decided to undergo surgery when he was in her 30s and after that began competing against women in weightlifting.

Once he got her hormone levels down to what was required to participate in international women’s competitions, he began to have sudden success. For example, she won the women’s over 90-kilogram division of the Australian International competition, setting four unofficial national records in the process. Hubbard lifted a combined total of 268 kg, 19 kg more than the silver medalist.

During her relatively short, but very successful athletic career, Hubbard has defeated women who have worked hard and trained their entire lives, but nevertheless can never match the strength that nature gives a man. On this occasion – the competition for the Olympic Games – Hubbard has already knocked out 21-year-old Kuinini Manumua.

Regarding Hubbard’s participation in women’s competitions, more and more athletes are speaking out about an injustice. Super heavyweight powerlifter Anna Vanbellinghen has previously stated that her comments are not a personal criticism of Hubbard, but that “this particular situation is unfair to the sport and the athletes.”

New Zealand Olympic Committee chief executive Kerryn Smith said Hubbard was selected because he meets the eligibility criteria but acknowledged that the debate between fairness and inclusion is a difficult one; and is now facing criticism from a section of society, but especially from athletes who feel the game is no longer fair.

In professional sports, female and male categories have been established for the undeniable reason that nature has endowed us with different characteristics according to sex. What sense would it make for women to make an effort and dedicate a lifetime to sports if when the competition arrives their opponent is going to win mainly for biological reasons and not because of merit.

Sports are fundamental for the entertainment of a society, they unite nations, they gladden hearts, they entertain people; it is madness to turn them into a political field and destroy women’s professional sports.

This is not a personal issue, it is not about agreeing or disagreeing with a person’s life choices, it is about the fact that biologically we are different and allowing men to compete in women’s categories will kill any incentive for female athletes to dedicate their lives to a career that we are all passionate about.

This issue is ultimately about fairness. Would it be fair for me to run a children’s race and allow an adult to participate? It isn’t. Imagine boxing or UFC fighters saying they don’t want categories and men will fight women, or that the big guy feels discriminated against because he is skinny and short, so now he wants to compete at flyweight instead of welterweight; it doesn’t make sense! Categories in sports are not about politics, they are about setting rules for similar people to compete and the effort has resulted in the matchup.

Even in entertainment it does not make sense to put such unequal people to compete, a good competition is not one where one athlete finishes the other without any effort, but where they actually compete and both have to put in the effort to win.

As more and more men are accepted in women’s sports competitions, we will see how titles will be taken away from women and no girl will ever dream of being an athlete again because, no matter how hard she tries, men will beat her.

I am not a feminist. I don’t like the term, but I do believe that women have the right to participate in sports without having their careers sabotaged by political activists who want to go against biology. Get politics out of sports!

Vanessa Vallejo. Co-editor-in-chief of El American. Economist. Podcaster. Political and economic analysis of America. Colombian exile in the United States // Vanessa Vallejo. Co-editora en jefe de El American. Economista. Podcaster. Análisis político y económico de América. Colombiana exiliada en EE. UU.

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