Ottawa, November 19: When boxer Katia Bissonnette learned that her opponent, Mya Walmsley, is transgender, she reportedly withdrew from a Canadian championship match. An hour before last month’s 2023 Provincial Golden Glove Championship, Bissonnette discovered that Walmsley is biologically male. Therefore, she decided to pull out of the championship, according to ABC News.
My coach pulled me aside and informed me that he had received evidence via text message—which he had verified—that my opponent was not a woman by birth, Bissonnette told Reduxx. Canadian Footballer Quinn To Become First Open Transgender Athlete To Win Olympic Medal.
Because authorities could not find another fighter in the same weight class, Walmsley won by default. Bissonnette, who is from Saguenay, used a 2020 strength assessment from the University of Utah to explain her decision to withdraw.
Even after accounting for weight, a male blow had 163% greater effect than a woman’s, according to a research,” Bissonnette stated. She said that athletes who are naturally female shouldn’t have to take on the “physical and psychological risks” associated with an opponent’s choices about their “personal life” and “identity.”
However, Walmsley was not pleased with Bissonnette’s withdrawal. “Rather than turning to me, my coach or the Quebec Olympic Boxing Federation for more information, she decided to turn directly to the media to out me. This kind of behaviour puts athletes at risk of being excluded or receiving personal attacks based on hearsay”, Walmsley wrote in a statement. British Rowing to Ban Transgender Athletes From Women’s Events, Says Report.
Walmsley speculated that Bissonnette’s claims may be used to promote particular laws and cast doubt on the validity of transgender female athletes. The boxer is a champion of sportsmen having mutual trust when it comes to gender identity. According to reports, Bissonnette claims that the Australian athlete would not have been permitted to compete in a women’s division in her native nation.
(The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on Nov 19, 2023 07:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).
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