Gender again. Sorry!

[AuroraSaab]

Yes, you'd never know this was a cheating male because they omitted to tell you. I've no idea why you think this is a good thing.

If they interviewed an athlete knowing he was doping or cheating but the journalist decideded not to mention it because well it's just a bit of unfairness and the journalist is also doping I can only think you'd be fine with that.

 

[monkers]

Yes, you'd never know this was a cheating male because they omitted to tell you. I've no idea why you think this is a good thing.

If they interviewed an athlete knowing he was doping or cheating but the journalist decideded not to mention it because well it's just a bit of unfairness and the journalist is also doping I can only think you'd be fine with that.

And had it been mentioned, you would have been ranting about ''how the trans are always trying to normalise trans ideology''. Some of us know how this works.

The author was writing about the sport and those people who are enjoying being within it.

What you failed to notice was that not everybody is in sport with any expectation of winning, they simply enjoy it for its own sake.

The article even made that clear, alas it seems you were not reading the article but scanning it for trans content to use against the author or the wider trans community.

Lucy Gabriel has worked as a personal trainer since 2019, and was "peer pressured" into taking part in a Hyrox event by a friend.

She has since taken part in multiple amateur competitions, made her pro debut last year and has two more events planned for 2025. She has also become a certified Hyrox coach and judge.

"I wouldn't call it a competition really, unless you're in the elite," she tells BBC Sport. "I'd compare it more to a marathon where it's a mass participation event. It's something you're doing for yourself to beat your personal best.

"I'm a bit of an evangelist. When I see other women on the track I'm like, 'oh wow, she's so fast', she's my inspiration rather than competition."

Not everybody is in the same place as you, not everybody is required to agree with you. Lucy Gabriel has motives other than winning - is that a surprise to you?

 

[AuroraSaab]

What you failed to notice was that not everybody is in sport with any expectation of winning, they simply enjoy it for its own sake.

You have no idea whether the women who placed below him took part in a Hyrox competition just for fun or if they are fiercely competitive and wanted to rank as high as they could. It's unlikely that women train hard then enter organised Hyrox competitions just for a bit of fun.

Not everybody is in the same place as you, not everybody is required to agree with you. Lucy Gabriel has motives other than winning - is that a surprise to you?

For someone who isn't interested in winning he enters a lot of competitions, including international ones. His motives are likely to be the validation that being in the Women's competition brings him as well as the higher rankings he enjoys when he doesn't have to compete against other men.

His motivation for being in the Women's category is of course irrelevant. The motivation doesn't erase the fact that his presence is unfair.

 

[monkers]

You have no idea whether the women who placed below him took part in a Hyrox competition just for fun or if they are fiercely competitive and wanted to rank as high as they could. It's unlikely that women train hard then enter organised Hyrox competitions just for a bit of fun.

Neither do you - and that is exactly my point. You are taking offence on behalf of others without any knowledge of how they are feeling.

 

[monkers]

For someone who isn't interested in winning he enters a lot of competitions, including international ones. His motives are likely to be the validation that being in the Women's competition brings him as well as the higher rankings he enjoys when he doesn't have to compete against other men.

In my opinion it could equally indicate the opposite. Emma Smith has learnt through repeated competition that they are unlikely to be a winner.

So to quote Lucy Gabriel for the second time, who is a personal trainer, and has turned pro in the sport ... "I'd compare it more to a marathon where it's a mass participation event. It's something you're doing for yourself to beat your personal best.''

 

[AuroraSaab]

When other sports have consulted their female athletes they have been against male inclusion. It seems unlikely that Hyrox athletes would be any different.

It costs £100 plus to enter a Hyrox competition. The idea that these women are doing this just for fun and aren't very, very competitive is ridiculous.

Where would Smith and Gabriel place in the Men's comp where they belong? I'm going to take a wild guess and say much lower in the rankings. Their 'I'm running for fun' motivation is irrelevant to the women athletes they displace.

 

[monkers]

When other sports have consulted their female athletes they have been against male inclusion. It seems unlikely that Hyrox athletes would be any different.

It costs £100 plus to enter a Hyrox competition. The idea that these women are doing this just for fun and aren't very, very competitive is ridiculous.

Where would Smith and Gabriel place in the Men's comp where they belong? I'm going to take a wild guess and say much lower in the rankings. Their 'I'm running for fun' motivation is irrelevant to the women athletes they displace.

You seem to be saying that people should not take part if they don't expect to win. It seems you don't have a sense of satisfaction through participation. People join up to things to be part of something. This is quite normal/usual behaviour.

I've participated in sport many times. I never expect to win, and I'm never surprised or disappointed to be last - but I have the memory that I was there, happy to see friends do well if they do, and to laugh at the micky taking I get afterwards - all part of the fun.

Not everything is a competition, but when you set out to ''win the internet'' every day on a small cycling forum - then be prepared to be disappointed that you can't always win.

 

[CXRAndy]

When you enter a competition, you hope to do your best, improve your time and get a higher finishing position

 

[AuroraSaab]

You seem to be saying that people should not take part if they don't expect to win.

They can take part in the category appropriate to their sex, whether it's for fun or to win the competition. Motivation for competing has nothing to do with categories, which are based on fairness and safety.

If these 2 men are doing Hyrox just for fun why don't they enter in the male category? They would still be competing against themselves and their own times? They wouldn't be pushing women down the rankings.

 

[monkers]

When you enter a competition, you hope to do your best, improve your time and get a higher finishing position

That may be true for you, and probably those who don't try the hardest might be chuffed to do gain one place higher than before. However it does not follow from that, that a person can came 765th ( or whatever) and feel bad that they lost one place to the one trans woman in the competition.

 

[monkers]

They can take part in the category appropriate to their sex, whether it's for fun or to win the competition. Motivation for competing has nothing to do with categories, which are based on fairness and safety.

If these 2 men are doing Hyrox just for fun why don't they enter in the male category? They would still be competing against themselves and their own times? They wouldn't be pushing women down the rankings.

What rules are being broken?

 

[AuroraSaab]

If you want to be officially ranked, which Gabriel seems to be, then you are supposed to register as your birth sex in Hyrox. Official rules or not, any male in the female category is competing unfairly.