Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard has been picked to compete in the women’s +87kg division, according to the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).
Hubbard will be the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics. Before transitioning in 2013, the 43-year-old had competed in men’s weightlifting events.
“I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders,” Hubbard stated in a statement on Monday.
Hubbard has been able to compete in the Olympics since 2015 when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) adopted standards permitting any transgender athlete to compete as a woman if their testosterone levels have been below 10 nano-moles per litre for at least 12 months prior to their first competition.
Hubbard won gold at the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa and silver at the 2017 World Championships. She competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games but sustained a serious injury that set back her career.
“When I broke my arm three years ago at the Commonwealth Games, I was told that my sporting career was likely over. But your love, encouragement, and aroha (support) carried me through the darkness,” Hubbard stated.
“The last eighteen months has shown us all that there is strength in kinship, in community, and in working together towards a common purpose. The mana of the silver fern comes all of you and I will wear it with pride,” she added.
Hubbard earned national records in junior competition while competing as Gavin Hubbard, her birth name, and had a best-combined snatch and clean and jerk total of 300 kilos (661 pounds).
Hubbard, who was 35 at the time, transitioned eight years ago. She has since fulfilled all of the standards of the International Olympic Committee’s trans athletes and fair competition regulations.
The IOC guideline lays out the requirements for transitioning from male to female athletes to compete in the female category. One of them is that the athlete has proclaimed her gender identity to be female and that this statement cannot be reversed for at least four years for sports purposes.
For at least 12 months previous to her first competition, the athlete must show that her total testosterone level is below a particular measurement. Hubbard met all these requirements.