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news
Leia Genis individual pursuit USA national championships (screenshot USA Cycling / YouTube)USA Cycling accused of "transphobia" after individual pursuit medallist stripped of national championships medal
Update: On 5 August USA Cycling, responding to a request for comment from road.cc, claimed that Leia Genis was ineligible to compete at last week’s Track National Championships – where she took second place in the women’s individual pursuit before being stripped of her silver medal and removed from competition less than 24 hours later – as she had failed to provide the UCI with the documentation required to race in the Elite Women’s category.
The national governing body pointed out that Genis’ earlier participation in non-elite events fell under USA Cycling’s Policy VII Non-Elite Competition guidelines for transgender athletes, which allows competitors to self-select their gender (according to these guidelines, members are also able to file a grievance “in the event that a question should arise about a member’s eligibility to participate in a manner consistent with their gender”).
However, by upgrading to compete in the elite women’s category, USA Cycling says that Genis then became subject to the policies and regulations of the UCI and International Olympic Committee (IOC).
As noted in the original article below, the UCI’s new rules on transgender cyclists – which came into effect on 1 July – stipulate that athletes transitioning from male to female must demonstrate that their testosterone levels have been below 2.5 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L) for 24 months.
According to USA Cycling, Genis did not provide the UCI with the required documentation to upgrade to elite level and, when a review was carried out during last week’s track championships, had not completed the “required steps” to meet the eligibility criteria.
In a statement provided to road.cc, USA Cycling said: “At the 2022 USA Cycling Elite & Junior Track National Championships, a transgender woman, Leia Genis, registered for several Elite Women's events.
“Ms. Genis was made aware of the UCI's Transgender Policy in March 2022 and her responsibilities in complying with this policy. At the time, Ms. Genis was participating in non-elite categories and fell under USA Cycling's Policy VII Non-Elite Competition guidelines.
“Ms. Genis subsequently upgraded but did not provide the UCI with the necessary documents to race in the Elite Women's category.
“When USA Cycling discovered that Ms. Genis was participating in the event, a representative from the organization met with Ms. Genis to review her eligibility in accordance with the UCI’s policy.
“This review revealed that Ms. Genis was ineligible to participate in the championships as she had not completed the required steps to meet the UCI's Athlete Eligibility Regulations. As a result, USA Cycling refunded Ms. Genis’ registration fees, vacated her event results, and removed her from further events at the 2022 USA Cycling Elite & Junior Track National Championships.
“USA Cycling supports transgender athletes' participation in sport and was one of the first national governing bodies to adopt an inclusive transgender athlete policy.”
The original article appears below:
A silver medallist in the women's individual pursuit at last week's USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships has accused the governing body of "transphobia" after being stripped of her medal and removed from competition less than 24 hours later.
Leia Genis finished second in the women's elite individual pursuit, behind Bethany Matsick, at last week's national championships in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania. However, the next day both of the bronze medal race participants, Skyler Espinoza and Elizabeth Stevenson, were upgraded to second and third respectively, and Genis removed from the results list.
Writing on Instagram alongside a picture of her standing on the podium next to Matsick and Espinoza, with a silver medal around her neck, Genis said the "transphobia" behind USA Cycling's decision was "so blatant it's almost laughable".
"Being a trans woman in this sport is so incredibly frustrating," Genis said. "Poorly-communicated guidelines, restrictions and requirements that are constantly changing, lack of empathy from USA Cycling, and a peloton full of furtive whispers and sideways glances mean that even showing up to compete is an immense struggle.
"I am obviously heartbroken. I have worked my ass off to be here and I rightfully earned my silver medal. I will continue to train and race but this experience has left me disgusted and abhorred."
Genis also explained the events which saw her pulled from competition ahead of the next day's events.
"I was preparing for the mass-start races, a USA Cycling official informed me that I was no longer allowed to compete and that my place on the IP [individual pursuit] podium was to be revoked on account of my trans identity," Genis continued.
"Six weeks ago I was eligible for competition at UCI C1 and C2 races held at the same velodrome and overseen by the same technical director. Yet six weeks later, now that I am doing well at nationals, I am suddenly ineligible to compete. The transphobia is so blatant it's almost laughable."
Genis also took the opportunity to congratulate Matsick, who set a new track record in qualifying, on her "incredibly fast times".
USA Cycling remained silent on the decision in the days following the championships, with no comment other than to remove mention of Genis from the opening day's results.
While the governing body has since responded to road.cc's request for comment (see update above), questions remain surrounding why Genis, seemingly ineligible to compete under the tightened UCI rules, was allowed to race the event before being told.
From July 1, new UCI rules on transgender female cyclists competing in women's races came into effect, doubling the time an athlete transitioning from male to female needs to wait before being able to compete in women's races to 24 months.
It now stipulates that athletes transitioning from male to female need to have had testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L) for 24 months. Previously, the rules required testosterone levels below 5 nmol/L for 12 months.
According to the athlete's Instagram, Genis began racing last year.
"Unfortunately, not everyone is happy to see a trans person racing," she said at the time.
"Many of which have expressed their disapproval quite loudly. But there have also been many supporters and honestly, I've had so much fun, they couldn't keep me away if they tried."
In March, British-based racer Emily Bridges was barred from making her racing debut as a woman at the National Omnium Championships. British Cycling said that the UCI had intervened to say Bridges "is not eligible to participate in this event".
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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139 comments
Well done to Skyler Espinoza and Elizabeth Stevenson!!! They deserve it!
I think Genis is a dirty cheat. Why does she not compete in the mens category?
He
She. She is a woman.
Biological or trans?
yawn. You again.
Have a look at the links to Sir Robert Winston below. I guess he is a transphobe too?
I would guess you accept all of his views on cycling too...?
Here you go.
https://www.christian.org.uk/news/professor-winston-stating-biological-f...
https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/torah-for-today-changing-sex/
Yeah, a Christian site in no way would not publish the full quote. Hmmm. You've been pulled up on this before.
elective inelegibility doesnt mean they're afraid of you.
Reference the update - sounds like USA. Cycling is ass covering.. "when it was brought to our attention".... what you mean when you already knew she was registering, but it didnt occur to them to check back then, or again when the UCI jiggered with the rules.... hmmmmmm. as I said before I dont believe this is transphobia - just sheer bureacratic incompetence, though no doubt it leaves the competitor feeling the same.
I also think that USA Cycling could have knocked this story on the head if they had added more apologetic language to their release. It costs them nothing and might actually gain them some plaudits.
But less face it - there is a nothing like a sporting governance body for intrangience, denial and outright assholery. See pretty much all Sporting bodies everywhere.
how so? They said...
"“Ms. Genis was made aware of the UCI's Transgender Policy in March 2022 and her responsibilities in complying with this policy. ""
But the UCI changed the rules in June 2022, publicising them, erm, not much, in a press release with an unrelated title: "UCI Management Committee approves the Federation’s Agenda 2030 and awards the first UCI Gravel World Championships"
Source: https://www.bicycling.com/news/a40320907/uci-transgender-policy-2022/
So the charge of bureaucratic incompetence is actually fairly light. Was the change buried to reduce controversy? Were those affected informed? Were they consulted, given that it might mean a two year process before they can resume competition?
Anyone who thinks women who were once men are on an equal playing field as regards athletics is an idiot. Plenty of studies out there to prove that maturing to adulthood as a male confers physical advantages which no amount of attempted hormone balancing will sort out.
Hmm... it is unfortnately more nuanced than that. There are definite athletic where this is the case (lifting, sprint distances), but others where the data do not seem to back this up where testosterone levels are supressed:
eg. distance running https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Race-Times-for-Transgender-Athlete...
The author of this study uses the analogy that a trans woman with reduced testosterone will have on average a larger frame but relatively reduced muscle mass putting a "smaller engine in a larger car." I think this is more likely to apply to endurance disciplines for instance and only when hormone supression has occurred. Cycling over usual competitive lengths is a discipline where an advantage is retained, from what I can see, although in ultra-endurance races like the transcontinental (not intentional) I am not so sure...
Road..cc seems to think that cycling has become The Crying Game. Men belong in Men's sports, and Women belong in Women's sports. Instead of doping tests, do we need to have atheletes start dropping their shorts in order to pass qualification? This woke garbage needs to end!
Ooo a one post wonder. I'm looking forward to your deep and meaningful insights on the issues of the day.
Jeez S_S, elitist much?
Everybody has to start somewhere.
Maybe we shouldn't let people post unless they have a minimum of 100 posts?
...but how would they get up to 100 posts?
Maybe Secret Squirrel should lay-off the soy milk and loosen his skinny jeans a liitle, as they seem to be cutting off the oxygen to his brain. Perhaps, that might explain why he can't decern the biological and psysiological differences bewteeen men and women athletes.
You've pretty much just proved SS's well-founded supposition about the type of poster you're going to be to be correct there, haven't you?
And?
Only posters that agree with you and SS are allowed to post? No dissenting or differing opinions are allowed? It might upset the comfortable little bubble you've created here on Road.cc?
Drive away any that disagree and lets create an extension of twitter.
By Road.cc publishing stories like this, it will attract people that rightly or wrongly (depending on your views) will want to express an opinion. That's how sites like this work, it wants to attract more users yes? By having a large and diverse user base it creates more site traffic and therefore more revenue. But by having users like you and SS gatekeeping, chasing away any that might not agree with "THE CUURENT THING" what's that doing?
Who said s/he can't post? SS simply surmised from the stupid, ill-informed and aggressive nature of their first post that they were likely to be a stupid, ill-informed and aggressive addition to the forum, and their stupid, ill-informed and aggressive second post seems to confirm that. Nobody's asked for them to be banned; it would appear to be you who wants voices that don't agree with your opinions to be silenced and for those who agree with you to go unchallenged.
Read my post properly instead of taking bits out of context. I was the one advocating for a wide variety of users.
It seems that yet again you default to name calling and aggressive posts to scare away others that might not agree with you. You might not be able to get them banned but by ganging up and piling on you immediately create a hostile environment that you hope will deter any further posts.
Having a majority disagree with you is not being "ganged up" on (the language is reflective of the fact that you appear not to have matured emotionally beyond the school playground). You have now made over 500 posts on this forum, the majority of them bleating on ad nauseam with your obsessive views on trans issues (that's when you weren't telling us that giving birth was the greatest achievement any woman could hope for), so clearly there isn't a problem with people expressing their views, it's simply you have a problem with people expressing opposing views. Funny how people who post aggressive drivel ("lay off the soy lattes and loosen your skinny jeans they're cutting off the bloodflow to your brain") are defended by you and yet anyone calling them on it is accused of being aggressive. Hypocrisy writ very large, I'm afraid.
Again with the micro aggressions and taking things out of context. This seems to be a common theme with you Rendel
I wasn't agreeing with the poster nor was I defending his view. I was simply welcoming a new user to the site.
Take Nosferatu1001 for instance. I don't agree with their stance on trans inclusion in womens sport and I've argued against them but they might have a rare insight into the best way of seating a troublesome tubeless tyre or the best T47 bottom bracket on the market. I certainly wouldn't want them scared away from posting something I neither agree with nor disagree with for risk of losing their actual cycling knowledge. For isn't that what this is at it's core? A cycling website? It seems you may have gotten it mixed up with twitter at some point.
Good lord man!? I thought this was 4chan? You mean there's something here apart from point scoring, culture wars, bad puns, 80s and 90s cultural references and squirrel memes?
That is somewhat ironic coming from you, chap; this site still doesn't have the capacity to review a user's posting history, but I'd be prepared to wager that your ratio of posts raging about trans issues compared to your posts actually about cycling is in the region of 25:1 at best. Which is fine, it's a free country and a democratic website and as long as the mods are happy with what someone says they can say what they like, but to try and get holier than thou about something of which you are a prime example is a bit rich.
And all 2937 of your posts are about cycling? I love the threatening undertones that if the site had the capacity to review a users postings or the capacity to ban a user on the content of them, you'd be pressing that report button on quite a few users you didn't agree with.
If Road.cc actually covered more actual cycling content instead of scraping most of its stories from twitter then maybe I'd have more cycling content to comment on. The fact Road.cc most popular stories are trans related just shows where the site has gone and shows that it knows exactly what it's doing by allowing posts on those stories got to get those clicks in!
These days I get most of my cycling news and reviews from other websites and YouTubers. I only come here to stoke the hornets nest from time to time. Twat baiting I call it.
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