This might not be the right forum to ask this question, but since it’s already going I thought I’d present it here. As you know, there’s been a lot in the news lately about transgender athletes. Mostly transgender females (male-to-female) being barred from participating in female events. The argument being that they are, for all intents and purposes, still a male competing against birth females, and that the male->female trans athlete has an unfair advantage against birth females. But it got me wondering about events where a female->male trans athlete might have an advantage over birth male athletes. For me, when I think about this transgender issue, initially events like track & field, swimming, wrestling, etc. come to mind. But I wonder if there are events like the male gymnastics disciplines where a female->male might have an advantage over a birth male. Maybe diving???
This might not be the right forum to ask this question, but since it’s already going I thought I’d present it here. As you know, there’s been a lot in the news lately about transgender athletes. Mostly transgender females (male-to-female) being barred from participating in female events. The argument being that they are, for all intents and purposes, still a male competing against birth females, and that the male->female trans athlete has an unfair advantage against birth females. But it got me wondering about events where a female->male trans athlete might have an advantage over birth male athletes. For me, when I think about this transgender issue, initially events like track & field, swimming, wrestling, etc. come to mind. But I wonder if there are events like the male gymnastics disciplines where a female->male might have an advantage over a birth male. Maybe diving???
I can't think of one. I believe there was a trans-man who had a modicum of success in triathlon (and I emphasize modicum). The whole push for women's sports and raison d'etre of Title IX flushed.
In my work (Psychiatrist) I have a few trans patients. I know one trans man who ran marathons before and after transition. Getting back into running after surgery and on hormones he said "wow, testosterone is amazing, I am going faster on less training." He was about middle of the pack before transition and much further back as a man, but was having fun.
Read an article somewhere, forget where, but it implied that gymnastics may be one, due to the general superior flexibility. There were a few others, but every example was a subjectively judged competition.
One other difference is that the endurance events seem to be less skewed towards males than sprints. Even from sprint to middle distance in swimming, the difference is 10% for the 500 (50th percentile NCAA), and 14% for the 100.
