'Grateful and humbled by the kindness': Weightlifter to become first transgender athlete at Olympics

the olympic village, A city within a city built for the world's best athletes for the Tokyo Games, thousands of olympians for more than 200 countries will be living here preparing for the defining moment in their sporting careers. Normally a place for partying and celebration. This year it's going to be an antisocial sanitized bubble full of covid testing, health centers and staying far apart from one another. At the athletes village plaza, there's everything the olympians will need, cafe bank, internet, hair salon and much, much more normally place for athletes to hang out, mix and mingle instead, there are signs everywhere reminding people to wear their masks and socially distanced themselves. But the majority of Japan still don't want the olympics to happen actually. A protest is ongoing right behind me as their debut in the olympic village to the press, there are 3800 rooms of these 21 buildings to house the athletes. This is a replica of the athletes room. Athletes have to share the room, which some public health experts say increases the risk of spreading covid. The olympians are also going to be sleeping on beds made out of cardboard recyclable, but don't worry, they're extremely sturdy and can hold more than £400. Tomorrow athletes are contact traced and tested for covid every day. If they test positive for covid, they have to come to this fever clinic to get tested again. If that covid test comes back positive yet again, they then have to take dedicated transport to an isolation facility outside of this olympic village and they then lose their chance to compete. They're only allowing two thirds of capacity here at the dining hall and normally place for meeting and chatting. Instead, athletes are asked to dine alone separated by plastic barriers and to leave. As soon as they finish eating after wiping down their seats and the athletes gym, where they have to keep their mask on at all times and will be separated by these barriers. Athletes can only arrive five days before their competition and have to leave within two condoms will still be passed out per tradition, but there are only given as athletes are leaving the village. It cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build all this after the Games, they'll be turned into residential apartments. But before that this is going to house athletes for an olympics like no other Selena wang CNN Tokyo.

Video above: A look at the Olympic Village in TokyoNew Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is set to become the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympic Games, after she was selected for the national team on Monday.She will compete in the women's 87-kilogram (191.8 pounds) category, according to a statement released by the New Zealand Olympic Committee that also announced the four other members of the weightlifting team.Hubbard, 43, qualified for the rescheduled Tokyo Games in May after a rule change, which effectively guaranteed her a spot in the super heavyweight category, Reuters reported at the time. This will be her first time at the Olympic Games — a remarkable comeback after a significant injury in 2018."I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders," said Hubbard in the statement."When I broke my arm at the Commonwealth Games three years ago, I was advised that my sporting career had likely reached its end. But your support, your encouragement, and your aroha carried me through the darkness," she said, using the Indigenous Maori word for "love."Weightlifting has been a focus in an ongoing heated debate over transgender athletes competing in women's sports. Dozens of U.S. states are considering legislation that would prevent transgender women and girls from participating in women's categories, with several that have already enacted sports bans this year.Hubbard's participation in women's categories has drawn controversy before — in 2018, Australia's weightlifting federation sought to block her from competing at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, but organizers rejected the move.And in May, after Hubbard successfully qualified, Belgian weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen told an Olympics news website the situation was "unfair" and "like a bad joke."Hubbard competed in men's weightlifting competitions before transitioning in 2013. She has been eligible to compete in the Olympics since 2015, when the IOC issued new guidelines allowing any transgender athlete to compete as a woman provided their testosterone levels are below 10 nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months before their first competition, according to Reuters.She has been confirmed eligible this year for the Olympics after meeting criteria by the International Weightlifting Federation, International Olympic Committee, and New Zealand Olympic Committee, said the committee statement on Monday."We acknowledge that gender identity in sport is a highly sensitive and complex issue requiring a balance between human rights and fairness on the field of play," said Kereyn Smith, CEO of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, in the statement."As the New Zealand Team, we have a strong culture of manaaki and inclusion and respect for all," Smith said. "We are committed to supporting all eligible New Zealand athletes and ensuring their mental and physical wellbeing, along with their high-performance needs, while preparing for and competing at the Olympic Games are met."

Video above: A look at the Olympic Village in Tokyo

New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is set to become the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympic Games, after she was selected for the national team on Monday.

She will compete in the women's 87-kilogram (191.8 pounds) category, according to a statement released by the New Zealand Olympic Committee that also announced the four other members of the weightlifting team.

Hubbard, 43, qualified for the rescheduled Tokyo Games in May after a rule change, which effectively guaranteed her a spot in the super heavyweight category, Reuters reported at the time. This will be her first time at the Olympic Games — a remarkable comeback after a significant injury in 2018.

"I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders," said Hubbard in the statement.

"When I broke my arm at the Commonwealth Games three years ago, I was advised that my sporting career had likely reached its end. But your support, your encouragement, and your aroha carried me through the darkness," she said, using the Indigenous Maori word for "love."

Weightlifting has been a focus in an ongoing heated debate over transgender athletes competing in women's sports. Dozens of U.S. states are considering legislation that would prevent transgender women and girls from participating in women's categories, with several that have already enacted sports bans this year.

Hubbard's participation in women's categories has drawn controversy before — in 2018, Australia's weightlifting federation sought to block her from competing at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, but organizers rejected the move.

And in May, after Hubbard successfully qualified, Belgian weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen told an Olympics news website the situation was "unfair" and "like a bad joke."

Hubbard competed in men's weightlifting competitions before transitioning in 2013. She has been eligible to compete in the Olympics since 2015, when the IOC issued new guidelines allowing any transgender athlete to compete as a woman provided their testosterone levels are below 10 nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months before their first competition, according to Reuters.

She has been confirmed eligible this year for the Olympics after meeting criteria by the International Weightlifting Federation, International Olympic Committee, and New Zealand Olympic Committee, said the committee statement on Monday.

"We acknowledge that gender identity in sport is a highly sensitive and complex issue requiring a balance between human rights and fairness on the field of play," said Kereyn Smith, CEO of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, in the statement.

"As the New Zealand Team, we have a strong culture of manaaki and inclusion and respect for all," Smith said. "We are committed to supporting all eligible New Zealand athletes and ensuring their mental and physical wellbeing, along with their high-performance needs, while preparing for and competing at the Olympic Games are met."

'Grateful and humbled by the kindness': Weightlifter to become first transgender athlete at Olympics

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