The division on the participation of trans athletes in women's competitions experienced a controversial episode in Canada, where the weightlifting coach, Avi Silverberg, decided to register in the women's bench lifting contest for more than 84 kg and broke the record of the category. It happened at the Heroes Classic tournament in Lethbridge (Alberta) and was a way to protest against the gender self-determination regulations of the Canadian Weightlifting Federation.
The case has been uncovered by ICONS Women, a group that defends protected female categories in sport, which published on its Twitter account the video of Silverberg's participation, with a beard, clothing and completely masculine appearance.
The sport's Canadian rules allow anyone who identifies themselves as female to compete in the women's category, regardless of whether they have undergone hormone treatment or not. Although they do not have to disclose personal information, there are some requirements they must overcome in the weigh-in, which Silverberg had to circumvent.
The trainerlifted 167.5 kilos and beat the record of the contest by more than 20, held by a trans weightlifter, Anne Andres, who was also present at the event and protested calling Silverberg a "coward and intolerant" and denounced his bad intention when registering.
In her complaint, Andres claims that she complies with the regulations to participate in women's competitions: "I had surgery and I can prove without any doubt that I have passed all the steps", "I care about women in sport because I am a woman in sport", she wrote next to a video.
According to ICONS Anne Andres has won eight of the nine women's competitions in which she has participated. The agency says that the transsexual weightlifter fueled controversy in the networks by publishing a video in January in which she claimed that she did not understand the differences in strength in the upper body between men and women.
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