Transgender runner banned from competing at Olympic trials
Transgender track and field star CeCe Telfer has been denied a chance to compete at the Tokyo Olympics after she didn't meet the regulations.
The NCAA champion competed for Franklin Pierce in the men's Division II, but took time off, then came back to compete for the women's team.
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Telfer then won the NCAA 400m hurdle event for the women's division in 2019.
She planned to compete in the Tokyo Olympics after applying for the trials this month.
But the World Athletics released rules in 2019 that closed off international women's events of between 400 meters and a mile to athletes who did not meet the eligibility requirements.
Among those requirements was that their testosterone levels had to be below five nonomoles per liter (nmol/L) for a span of 12 months.
CeCe Telfer looking to the future
Telfer’s manager, David McFarland, said Telfer would respect the decision.
“CeCe has turned her focus towards the future and is continuing to train. She will compete on the national — and world — stage again soon,” McFarland said.
USATF, in a separate statement, explained, “Following notification from World Athletics on June 17 that the conditions had not yet been met, USATF provided CeCe with the eligibility requirements and, along with World Athletics, the opportunity to demonstrate her eligibility so that she could compete at the US Olympic Team Trials.
In a blog last week in Women's Health, Telfer said she was happy and using her experience to be the positive change she wants to see in the world.
“I love what I’m doing and I’m getting to live my truth and live my authentic life," she said.
"I believe that this is my way of being the change that I want to see in the world. And I live by that every single day.”
with AP
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