Two trans-identified male cyclists took the top spots at events in Washington and Switzerland this week, with one beating out two teenage girls, and the other depriving his competitors of $550 cash prize.
This Saturday, in Switzerland’s largest city of Zürich, Kiana Gysin took first place at the women’s fixed gear racing final as part of the Zuricrit event that was being held in the middle of the city.
Gysin, a biological male who identifies as a woman, had also seized first place in the women’s heat event.
Gysin, who was awarded prize money totalling 500 Swiss Francs, equal to $566.86 USD, edged out the second placed American Dani Morsehead, by beating out her best lap time by a single second, according to the official race results. As a result of Gysin’s participation, Morsehead received the second prize of 300 Francs, equal to $340.58 USD.
Despite his participation, Swiss national paper Tages-Anzeiger boasted that the race had attracted international talent, “and more female riders than ever before.”
The day prior in Richmond, Washington, another male cyclist took home a women’s title — beating out two teenage girls to become the 1/2/3 Women’s Northwest Elimination Champion at the Jerry Baker Velodrome.
Amazon software engineer Claire Law, 35, defeated a number of junior female racers on Friday, August 20, at the women’s elimination race. An elimination race involves the last-placed rider who crosses the finish line each lap dropping out, until only one person is left.
In a livestream of the event, Law was seen crushing his teenaged opponents.
As the third place rider Lucy Dorer, 15, was eliminated, second place rider Lucy Scoville, aged 17 can be seen completely dropping back for the last lap, and not even bothering to compete with Law, who sailed ahead to what appeared to be an easy victory.
“Law is just such in overall strong form, that the contest won’t be there,” the commentator noted during the competition.
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports, a network of women athletes who advocate for female protected categories in sports, noted that Law has “appeared on women’s podiums consistently for years and joins over 50 men competing in women’s cycling in recent years.”
In July, the world governing body for cycling, UCI, banned transgender athletes from participating in any of their events if they had gone through male puberty. UCI determined that the previous barrier, restricting testosterone levels, was not “sufficient to completely eliminate the benefits of testosterone during puberty in men,” their statement noted.
“Given the current state of scientific knowledge, it is also impossible to rule out the possibility that biomechanical factors such as the shape and arrangement of the bones in their limbs may constitute a lasting advantage for female transgender athletes,” the statement read.
David Lappartient, the president of UCI, said that the governing body had a “duty to guarantee, above all, equal opportunities” for all competitors in cycling competitions.
“It is this imperative that led the UCI to conclude that, given the current state of scientific knowledge does not guarantee such equality of opportunity between transgender female athletes and cisgender female participants, it was not possible, as a precautionary measure, to authorize the former to race in the female categories,” he explained.
British Cycling had introduced their own policy two months prior, creating an “open” third category where anyone of any gender identity and sex would be allowed to compete. The female category would be restricted only to biological women, including those who identified as transgender, but who had yet to undertake hormone therapy.
As the Independent Council on Women’s Sports noted, USA Cycling had not adopted these new stricter policies that prevented biological males from competing with and beating women and girls, which permitted Law to take the championship on Friday.
Gysin, who also became the fixed gear bicycle female world champion in June, had in fact protested against the UCI’s decision as part of FemMess, a Zürich cycle club that “promotes … intersectional feminist discussions” in cycling.
“We from FemMess CC strongly condemn UCI’s decision to essentially ban trans woman from competitive cycling, this decision has no basis in scientific findings and has only been implemented because of the current transmisogynistic political climate and pressure from trans exclusionary organizations. We won’t be attending any event that follows UCI Guidelines as we won’t financially support organizations like this,” the group posted on Instagram, where Gysin can be seen in a photo.
“We stand for an intersectional feminist approach to the sport and bio essentialism is dangerous for everyone, they won’t stop with trans woman. F**k UCI!” the group concluded.
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