Transgender powerlifter Mary Gregory recently celebrated the feat of smashing four women’s weightlifting records at the same event, but opponents cried foul since Gregory was born a man and only recently announced becoming a transgender woman.
Competing at the 100% Raw Weightlifting Federation competition last weekend, Gregory set a series of records for women’s weightlifting and won nine out of the nine events. Gregory set records in Masters world squat, open world bench press, masters world deadlift, and masters world total, Yahoo Sports reported.
Gregory celebrated the big win on an Instagram post on Monday and thanked the event’s authorities for having such a tolerant attitude.
“What a day, 9 for 9! Masters world squat record, open world bench record, masters world dl record, and masters world total record! Still processing, full meet recap to come a bit later but I do want to thank a few people,” Gregory wrote on Instagram.
“Thank you!” Gregory added. “As a transgender lifter I was unsure what to expect going into this meet and everyone — all the spotters, loaders, referees, staff, meet director, all made me welcome and treated me as just another female lifter.”
But Gregory’s overpowering win against the natural-born female competitors did not pass without some criticism.
Former British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, who won a Silver Medal in the 1980 Summer Olympics, slammed Gregory’s one-sided appearance saying Gregory has a “male body with male physiology” and that a “woman with female biology cannot compete. It’s a pointless, unfair playing field.”
And 2004 Gold Medal winner, Dame Kelly Holmes, echoed the criticism saying Gregory’s win was a “bloody joke.”
On Monday, Holmes tweeted, “it’s a bloody joke and all getting ready for biological women to boycott certain events. Have a trans category if need be but even better a trans games. Otherwise, I’m starting to worry about the backlash and abuse that the trans community will get from spectators. It will happen!”
Beth Stelzer, Founder of Save Women’s Sports, also criticized the event for allowing Gregory to compete against the natural-born women contestants.
“Allowing men who identify as women (transgender women) to compete how they identify is demoralizing for women. It is not fair on a physical and emotional level. Allowing men to compete in women’s sports will be the end of women’s sports,” Stelzer said in an email to Breitbart News.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.