Netizens are expressing outrage after an adult man beat out a 13-year-old girl for first place in a women’s skateboarding competition held today in New York.
Ricci Tres, also known as Ricci And Tres, took top spot in the women’s division of The Boardr Open today held in New York City, taking home a $500 prize for a first place win.
Tres, a 29-year-old trans-identified male, came in first place against 13-year-old Shiloh Catori. Of the 6 competitors, 4 were under the age of 17, with the youngest being 10-year-old Juri Iikura.
In 2021, Tres became the first trans-identified male to attempt to quality for Olympic Women’s skateboarding, submitting a virtual run for the USA National Skateboarding Championships. Tres was unable to meet the short deadline to submit a hormone levels test, but was later told his testosterone was “much higher” than the required levels to compete in the female category.
Around this time, Tres was interviewed by Robert Brink of USA Skateboarding and revealed he was over 190 units off of the required testosterone reduction needed to be able to qualify in the female category by International Olympic Committee Standards. During the interview, Tres expressed ambivalence towards reducing his testosterone levels, and even stated he was comfortable “where [he] was at” in his transition.
Tres’ win was put on blast by Taylor Silverman, a female skateboarder who previously came into the spotlight after she spoke out about her experiences competing against trans-identified males.
This comes just weeks after Silverman, a professional skateboarder, posted a statement to her Instagram in which she called out the Redbull Cornerstone skate event she took part in for allowing a biological male athlete to compete against women, and take the top spot.
In her statement, Silverman wrote that she placed second in two previous competitions in which biological males were allowed to compete against female skateboarders, and noted that at the last Redbull-sponsored skate event, the female athletes lost out on financial awards because a transgender competitor took first place.
Silverman’s Instagram post had initially been inundated with hateful comments from trans activists, but she has since become even more vocal about her disagreement with males participating in female sport. On Twitter, Silverman has found a significant following of feminists and individuals critical of gender ideology who appreciate her pro-woman advocacy.
After Silverman announced the outcome of The Boardr event, netizens immediately expressed outrage at the results.
Pisses me off. Many have worked so hard to get women’s skateboarding more recognition girls have worked so hard. So many gains of the last few years with contest, sponsors, money and TV time. It’s being taken advantage discounting all the hard work and will ruin those gains.
— Randywtwf (@randywtwf) June 25, 2022
Many immediately took to congratulating Shiloh Catori on her victory, honoring her with the symbolic first-place recognition as they declared Tres’ win invalid.
While some questioned what advantages males have in skateboarding compared to females, earlier comments by commentator Tim Pool began to circulate.
Pool, a former pro-skateboarder, had come to Taylor Silverman’s defense after she came out against males competing against female athletes. Pool had offered to compensate Silverman the total earnings she had lost to trans-identified males competing in the women’s devision against her, and also pointed out that male skateboarders have distinct differences compared to their female counterparts.
“Males in skateboarding have higher centers of gravity granting advantages that cannot be removed with [hormone replacement therapy],” Pool wrote while engaged in a spat with YouTuber The Amazing Athiest, who was defending trans-identified male participation in women’s categories.
In a separate tweet, Pool continued to assert male skateboards have advantages that cannot be addressed by reducing their testosterone levels.
“Males carry their center of gravity higher than females creating advantages in skateboarding that cannot be changed due to HRT. Plus with the Q angle women are more prone to injury creating a major disadvantage regardless of HRT,” He said, replying to evolutionary biologist Colin Wright.
Ricci Tres isn’t the only trans-identified male to prompt outrage after taking the top spot in a women’s sporting competition this month.
On June 3, two trans-identified males took first and second place in a women’s cycling competition in the United Kingdom.
Emily Bridges and Lilly Chant, both trans-identified males, took the first and second place spots, respectively, during the ThunderCrit race at the Herne Hill Velodrome in London. Jo Smith was the only female to take the winner’s podium, coming in third place. ThunderCrit is the UK’s largest fixed gear cycling race.
A recent Gallup Poll revealed that 62% of Americans believe athletes should only be able to participate on sporting teams that correspond with their sex, not their chosen gender identity. Studies have also consistently affirmed that trans-identified male athletes retain competitive advantages even years after starting hormone replacement therapy.
In 2020, a report released in the British Journal of Sport Medicine noted that trans-identified males were able to complete 31% more push-ups and 15% more sit-ups in one minute on average than a female Air Force service member. They also ran 1.5 miles 21% faster.
But even after two years on testosterone suppression treatment, the males were still 12% faster on average than biological females.
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