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news
National Cycling Centre (British Cycling).jpgUCI bars transgender cyclist Emily Bridges from debut as woman at National Omnium Championships this weekend
British Cycling has confirmed that transgender cyclist Emily Bridges will not now make her competitive debut as a woman at the National Omnium Championships in Derby this weekend, saying that the UCI has informed it that under current regulations, she “is not eligible to participate in this event.”
We will have more on this story in the morning. In the meantime, in a statement released this evening, the national governing body said:
At British Cycling, we believe that transgender and non-binary people should be able to find a home, feel welcome and included, and be celebrated in our sport.
Under the British Cycling Transgender and Non-Binary Participation policy, Emily Bridges was due to participate in the British National Omnium Championships on Saturday 2nd April. We have now been informed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) that under their current guidelines Emily is not eligible to participate in this event.
We have been in close discussions with the UCI regarding Emily’s participation this weekend and have also engaged closely with Emily and her family regarding her transition and involvement in elite competitions. We acknowledge the decision of the UCI with regards to Emily’s participation, however we fully recognise her disappointment with today’s decision.
Transgender and non-binary inclusion is bigger than one race and one athlete – it is a challenge for all elite sports. We believe all participants within our sport deserve more clarity and understanding around participation in elite competitions and we will continue to work with the UCI on both Emily’s case and the wider situation with regards to this issue.
We also understand that in elite sports the concept of fairness is essential. For this reason, British Cycling is today calling for a coalition to share, learn and understand more about how we can achieve fairness in a way that maintains the dignity and respect of all athletes.
Within recent years, we’ve seen huge advancements in the science and testing around elite sports, the broader scientific and understanding of human biology, developments in protection provided by the law, and crucially a greater respect for the psychological and societal challenges of those who are transgender and non-binary. This is a complex area and by uniting, we can share resources and insights.
We know that some of these conversations are happening in pockets of the sporting world, but we want to encourage all sporting governing bodies, athletes, the transgender and non-binary athlete community, the Government and beyond to come together and find a better answer.
Across sports, far more needs to be done, collectively, before any long-term conclusions can be drawn.
Below is our original article, published at 1215 today.
A transgender cyclist who was once part of the men’s Great Britain Academy Programme, and who last month won a men’s race at the British Universities Track Championships, looks set to make her competitive debut as a woman against some of the country’s top female riders including multiple Olympic champion Dame Laura Kenny at the National Omnium Championships in Derby this weekend – although some competitors are said to be afraid to speak out about her potential participation in the event.
Emily Bridges, aged 21, revealed her struggles with gender dysphoria and the impact it was having on her, including depression and feeling isolated, in an article written for Sky Sports that was published on Coming Out Day in October 2020.
She started undergoing hormone therapy last year, and her testosterone levels are now sufficiently low to allow her to compete in women’s events under British Cycling’s Transgender and Non-Binary Participation Policy.
First published in 2020, the latest version of the policy was published in January this year following a consultation last summer that attracted 600 responses.
Transgender athletes are required to have testosterone levels below 5 nanomoles per litre for a year (men generally range between 10 and 30 nanomoles per litre) before being permitted to compete against other women.
Announcing the update, British Cycling said: “Our first Transgender and Non-Binary Participation Policy was designed to be as inclusive as possible, imposing only necessary and proportionate restrictions on eligibility to ensure fair and meaningful competition, based on the most relevant available guidance.”
The governing body said that it would “continue to follow the UCI regulations introduced in March 2020, which are based on objective scientific research and driven by a desire to guarantee fairness and safety within the sport … For this reason, testosterone levels remain the primary method of determining which members are eligible to compete in the male and female categories.”
It added: “While there has been much commentary on the effectiveness of testosterone-based measures, at the current time we do not have sufficient research or understanding to update this area of our policy in a way which is relevant and appropriate for our sport.
“However, we remain committed to moving with international bodies and scientific opinion, and supporting research efforts in any way we can.”
News of Bridges’ likely participation in Derby this weekend has attracted criticism within the media, with Owen Slot, chief sports writer at The Times, writing that should she beat Kenny – five times an Olympic gold medallist, two of those in the Omnium – this weekend, it would underline the unfairness of allowing transgender women to compete in female sports events.
Meanwhile, Olympic silver medal-winning former swimmer Sharron Davies, who believes that despite reduction of testosterone levels, transgender women retain an unfair physical advantage over biological females and should therefore be excluded from women’s sport, says that she has been contacted by women cyclists who are fearful of going public with their concerns.
“British Cycling ought to be ashamed of themselves,” she said, quoted on Mail Online. “I have had quite a few of the girls very distressed on the phone. They are frustrated and disappointed.
“They are all for inclusion but not at the loss of fairness and opportunities for biological females.”
However, Bridges’ mother Sandy, writing on Twitter, said that her daughter may have to have police protection at the championships this weekend.
“This is the reality of being trans today,” she wrote. “That my daughter has to be on a police operation plan to compete in a bike race in the UK. How in any way can that be #SafeToBeMe2022.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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301 comments
You pointed out that because she didn't totally dominate it and was a good 10 seconds behind the record for that event, she was not swimming to the best of her abilities. You also pointed out that she did not win other races, so mist of deliberately lost them.
Seems to me to be up there with the best conspiracy theories to me, hence my comparison.
And yes, IF she met all the rules currently there for her to compete, then she can compete.
Who are speculating? And on what basis would someone make that kind of accusation? That's horrible. And demonstrates how brave she has been.
Or how duplicitous? She's not daft, she's heard/seen the furore around her inclusion in the sport and if she dominates then it adds further fuel to the fire. Lose a few and suddenly it causes doubt.
My issues isn't with Lia or Emma but the rules that have cowardly been applied by the sports governing bodies that have caused undue stress for so many female competitors.
so you're accusing her of throwing races, based on....?
seems like trans people can't win x do too well in a sport defined by things not being a level playing field, and yiure wring. Don't do well, and you're deliberately throwing the result.
I notice the acknowledged transphobe hasn't bothered substantiating any part of their apparently libellous comments.
I wonder why that is.
A 6'5" man competing against women. So brave...
Who is 6'5"?
disgsuting post, again. You really are trash.
.
Good comment until you started on with 'the Right stoking hostility'.
.
Naaa, think it's acros the spectrum.
.
Why not scrap the archaic Men and Women categories and introduce XX and XY chromosome categories?
Women with the Y chromosome can compete in the XY category and Men without a Y chromosome can compete in XX.
Everyone is welcome and no one is disadvantaged.
🤯
Because the IOC and IAAF trued that. All it acheived was telling a number of women that they'd had a Y chromosome all their life and were previously unaware of it. Not sure how that's helpful?
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/magazine/the-humiliating-practice-of-...
Why is that a problem Ian? Those women can still compete in the Y category of their chosen sport.
No one should be denied the opportunity to take part in sport.
British Cycling have now announced that Emily will not be taking part after discussions with UCI.
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/about/article/20220330-British-Cycling...
whether or not the decision was the right one. shame on the UCI for letting it get this far. its not good for Emily or the Sport.
Difficult one, this. I think, ultimately, to be fair to all, there should be a seperate category for trans athletes. Men transitioning to women will always have the upper hand so to speak and have an unfair advantage.
Interestingly, you never hear of women who have transitioned to men, competing against men. Is there any reason why? It is always former men competing against women.
I think you have expressed two sides of the same coin; women are at a disadvantage when the competition is with men.
Emily is not a man.
gender is not the same as sex. Try not to repeat your previous posting history which was transphobic.
I don't get what you're trying to say here. Emily was born a man, correct? No matter what she does, hormones she takes, she will always be, biologically speaking, male. With that comes the inherent abilities and strengths over and above her competitors that were not born biological males.
Try to have calm and rational discourse were differing views can be heard, people can be corrected if they are wrong, without throwing around labels such as transphobic.
Emily had her sex assigned as male, however she is not a man and never was from a gender identity perspective
You have used the term "biological males", but yiu do not have a definition of such that csn be agreed upon by the wider scientific community I know this to be true, becsue there ISNT such a definition. Gender is a spectrum, it is not binary, and so your attempts to reduce it to such is going to fail.
Sriracha is a transphobe, as Emily is not a man yet they are saying Emily is I am having a calm discourse, but much like deadnaming someone I will not tolerate or accept silently transphobic comments
It's kind of irrelevant to the content of this article, but I think it's interesting that you seem to think the only value in competing is if you can win. I "compete" in open zwift races: it's fun and makes me ride faster. I don't really see what the "disadvantage" is there.
My view on this is that competitive sport is something we should encourage / enable everyone to participate in.
Aside from the physical benefits of exercise / sport there are significant mental health benefits.
Given that many people living with gender dysphoria often describe real suffering and acute mental health issues we should therefore ensure they can compete in the sports that they enjoy - but that can't be to the detriment of other athletes.
So that leaves the issue of fairness.
It's very clear that some of the athletes recently in focus still have very significant physical advantages over their peers that will not change with the passing of time. This seems inherently unfair.
So we must find ways for them to compete without making it unfair to the athletes that are competing in their birth sex. Perhaps "open" classes available to athletes of all genders but with a handicap system might be one solution.
Apologies for any clumsy wording on this one and / or any offence inadvertently caused.
As long as you continue with the men / womens split, adding a third category essentially says that trans athletes are "separate but equal".
The reality is there is no good solution to the problem.
Trans people are not made physically the same as the sex that they have become, which cannot be resolved by medical technology of today, and the effects of being another sex before their point of transition does result in long term differences.
That leaves a dilemma, for fair competition a trans athlete may be permanently advantaged or disadvantaged against their competitors through no malign intent. Given the minute scrutiny of a modern athlete, such differences cannot be dismissed. On the other hand, excluding those who have transitioned does appear discriminatory. Enforcing participation on the other competitors has the potential to alienate trans people from otherwise open and accepting people (both fellow competitors and genuine followers of the sport) if there is a genuine unfair advantage.
I think in part that the solution must rest with the trans person, who perhaps needs to recognise that they do not fit into a neat category (well, I am sure that they do know that), so they can participate but might wish to voluntarily withdraw from results and rankings where they recognise they have had an advantage bestowed upon them by their transition. Not a great solution, but it's the best I can think of so far.
Which unfortunately then leads anyone watching trans athletes competing "for fun" ( as they cannot win the competition) it's sending the messsge that the trans athlete is t equal
all of sport is about having an "unfair" advantage brought about by genetics.
But if she wears the wrong length socks she's out.
Ridiculous. It's cheating on a scale higher than Armstrong. Sport should be divided by grounds of sex (which can be proven) rather than gender (which cannot). All people carrying the XY chromosome are male whereas those carrying XX are female. Simple as that. If one has passed through puberty as a male (like the man calling himself Rachel McKinnon) you will have an unfair physiological advantage over those who are biologically female.
Your GCSE/O Level/ CSE Woodworking is not a safe foundation for thinking you understand how to classify Sex and Gender.
Nature disagree's with you.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07238-8
So if someone rocks up with Klinefelter syndrome (XXY) which category would they race in your 'simple' system?
Toss of a coin?
Considering some of the many manifestations of Klinefelters are small testes, low testosterone and low muscle mass I don't think they'll be racing in the pro tour.
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