Former Olympic medal winner Sharron Davies has hit out at transgender athletes competing in women’s sports after an image of trans athlete Cece Telfer participating in a women’s hurdles race was posted online.
Telfer, who previously competed as a man, became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) title back in 2019 and was running in the Women’s Invitational 60m hurdles in Boston in February.
She had qualified for the final of the event, finishing fifth in the preliminary races, but would reportedly go on to disqualify herself during the deciding race. The incendiary issue of transgender participation in female sports has sparked much debate in the past few years, with multiple former athletes, including tennis great Martina Navratilova and two-time Olympic gold medalist Daley Thompson voicing their concerns on the debate.
Davies, a former swimmer who won silver in the 1980 400m medley at the Moscow Olympics, is another who has been outspoken on trans athletes participating in women’s sports. On Sunday, she reacted to an image of Telfer which was posted online that showed her preparing to run at the event in Boston.
Davies wrote on X (formerly Twitter): ‘Spot the male athlete in the women’s race! It’s simply cheating.’
A video was also posted of 6-foot-2 Telfer preparing for the race, with the sprinter seen jumping up and down and loosening her joints while stood at the starting blocks.
Several other X users had also reacted to the images, with ICONS, (the Independent Council on Women’s Sports) also writing: ‘Male runner, Cece Telfer, displaced collegiate women in the finals of a women’s invitational meet in Boston last month.
‘Telfer, the first openly trans-identifying male to win a women’s NCAA national title in the 400m hurdles (2019), ran unattached. After bumping a female athlete out of the finals, he later disqualified himself during the race.’
Davies has previously faced backlash from transgender activists who have reportedly targeted her children’s school after she spoke out against the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports.
The 61-year-old, who has attended 12 Olympic games as a competitor and a broadcaster, backed the decision to prevent transgender cyclist Emily Bridges from racing against female riders. Bridges had been at the center of a debate following her attempts to cycle against female athletes last year.