A transgender athlete who now identifies as a woman has won four different female running competitions so far this year alone after smashing a women’s 5000 meter record last year.
50-year-old Canadian Tiffany Newell ‘transitioned’ into a woman in 2017 and began competing in women’s sport in 2020 after claiming to have met World Athletics guidelines on testosterone levels.
Newell scooped first place at the 3000 meter for women aged 45-49 event at the Winter Mini Meet on January 8 and then also ranked first in the women’s 5000 meter for women aged 45-49 event just days later.
On February 5, Newell repeated the achievement by winning the the 1500 meter for women aged 45-49 competition.
After he turned 50, the athlete then won first place at the 1500 meter for women aged 50-54 competition held from February 23 to February 26 in Toronto.
The International Consortium on Women’s Sport, a group demanding the protection of female competitions, reacted to the news by asserting it was a blatant example of “sex discrimination.”
BREAKING ⚠️
New World #1 in women’s 50-54 age 1500m is a male athlete.Qs to @WorldAthletics & @WMA_Social :
👉🏼WHY are you not protecting the integrity of the female category?
👉🏼WHY do you insist on showing such blatant sex-discrimination?#SaveWomensSports #WorldAthletics pic.twitter.com/T5zLl6Sdiv— International Consortium on Female Sport (ICFS) (@ICFSport) February 27, 2023
Last year, Newell smashed the Canadian record in the 5000 meter indoor running competition for women aged 45-49 held at Toronto’s York University, beating it by six seconds, while also winning the 800 meter women’s race at the same event.
During a previous interview, the athlete argued against the creation of a category solely for transgender competitors.
“The policy makes sense for non-binary athletes, but I don’t feel comfortable racing against men. It categorizes me in the sex I am not identified as,” Newell said. “I am a woman, and I feel most comfortable racing against women or other transgender women. I believe an open category can work if athletes can continue to race against athletes of the same gender.”
