Who Is Laurel Hubbard? First Openly Transgender Athlete Who Qualified For Olympics

Laurel Hubbard is a transgender weightlifter from New Zealand. She became the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics On June 21 after qualifying requirements for the Tokyo Games were modified.

Expressing her delight over the development, Hubbard said, "I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders."

"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 added.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) revised the qualification requirements due to COVID-19. The New Zealand Olympic Committee confirmed in a statement that Laurel Hubbard was “very likely” to qualify.  The previous requirement was that six competition events were attended by the athlete. Due to COVID-19, the number was reduced to four events.

Who Is Laurel Hubbard?

1. Before transitioning, Hubbard had set the New Zealand junior records in 1998, before David Liti surpassed the records.
2. After transitioning, Laurel Hubbard competed at the Australia International in 2017 in the 90kg+ category and won the gold medal. She became the first trans woman from New Zealand to win an international weightlifting title.
3. Hubbard had qualified for the 2018 Commonwealth Games but was forced to withdraw due to an elbow injury during the competition. Australia’s weightlifting federation had reportedly attempted to block Hubbard from competing in the Commonwealth Games, but the organisers rejected their claims.
4. In the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa, Hubbard won two gold medals. The decision to allow Hubbard to compete was criticised by Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi.
5. Laurel Hubbard placed sixth at the 2019 International Weightlifting Federation World Championships.
6. At the Roma 2020 World Cup, Hubbard competed in the women’s 87kh+ event and won the gold medal.
7. The New Zealand team has not been named yet, but the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) said it was “very likely” that Hubbard would qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
8. Hubbard gave an interview in 2017 where she said that “I don't want to change the world. I just want to be me and do what I do.”