'I don’t feel comfortable racing against men': Man claiming to be female since 2017 crushes another women's track record

 A 50-year-old former soccer player and triathlete began claiming to be a woman six years ago. In an apparent effort to make up for lost time, he has since been racing to break records set by female athletes at various track events.

Over the weekend, "Tiffany" Newell placed first at the 2023 Canadian Masters Indoor Championship in Toronto. Catherine Weber, his sole opponent in the 50-54 age group for the women's 1500-meter indoor race, appears to have placed first among real women in the category.

Newell managed to break another record earlier this month, which has since been ratified by Canadian Masters Athletics under the regulations of World Masters Athletics. Newell ran 18:02:30 in the 5000m, beating the real woman previously in the top spot by six seconds.

Reduxx reported that Newell also secured the top spots on Jan. 8 in the women's 3000 meters in the 45-49 age group at the Winter Mini Meet and on Feb. 5 in the 1500 meters for women ages 45-49.

Running Magazine indicated that Newell began his process of gender transmogrification in 2017, but did not begin competing against women until the transition was reportedly complete in 2020, at which time his testosterone levels satisfied the requirements set by the World Athletics transsexual athlete policies.

Accordingly, Newell would have had to "demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Expert Panel (on the balance of probabilities) that the concentration of testosterone in her serum has been less than 5 nmol/L3 continuously for a period of at least 12 months."

He would also have had to keep his "serum testosterone concentration below 5 nmol/L for so long as she wishes to maintain her eligibility to compete in the female category of competition."

To satisfy the requirements adhered to by WMA, it is not necessary that a male transsexual competing with women undergo surgical anatomical changes or provide legal recognition of his gender identity.

Since completing his so-called transition in 2020, Newell has also competed against women at the 2021 Canadian XC Championships in the masters 8k, securing a silver medal, as well as at the 2022 Hamilton Marathon.

In response to the transsexual's recognized victories, the International Consortium on Female Sport, an advocacy group that seeks to protect meaningful distinctions in sexed categories, asked World Athletics and WMA: "WHY are you not protecting the integrity of the female category? WHY do you insist on showing such blatant sex-discrimination?"

George Perry, an athlete performance coach, noted in a Twitter thread ahead of Newell's most recent victories that there are some meaningful differences between male and female track competitors, at least in the way of performance and outcomes:

Perry underscored that between the top man and the top woman will be a lot of "un-notable men, midgrade, mediocre men," of which he reckons Newell is one.

Running Magazine noted that in response to the suggestion by some critics that transsexuals compete in an open category besides those designated for biological men and women, Newell said, "The policy makes sense for non-binary athletes, but I don’t feel comfortable racing against men."

Newell suggested that an open category would categorize him in the sex he does not identify with: "I am a woman, and I feel most comfortable racing against women or other transgender women. I believe an open category can work if athletes can continue to race against athletes of the same gender."

One Twitter user suggested that when transsexuals like Newell "steal women's accomplishments it is the worst kind of sexism."

The Guardian reported in 2020 that male transsexuals retain a 12% edge in tests two years after "transitioning." This conclusion was first reached in a paper published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showing male transsexuals performed 31% more push-ups and 15% more sit-ups in one minute on average than real women and ran 1.5 miles 21% faster.

After taking hormones, a male transsexual was found to retain a 10% advantage in push-ups and a 6% advantage in sit-ups years later.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe told Insider last year, "If you pushed me and said I had to choose between fairness or inclusion, I will always lean towards fairness, because that’s what sports have to be based on."

December 10, 2021