The transgender track sensation who sparked controversy after dominating this year’s NCAA women’s track championships, is saying he has “no benefit” from the elevated testosterone levels he has as a biological male.
NCAA track star CeCe Telfer racked up a list of records for Franklin Pierce University in women’s college track last month but questions soon arose over Telfer’s athletic history. The runner had been a male athlete just last season before “transitioning” to a woman and joining the female track team only to suddenly become the school’s leading runner.
Franklin University and Telfer took much criticism for a biological male swamping his natural-born female competition, with many criticizing the championship win as unfair.
Telfer, who has remained silent until now, is speaking out about the championship record saying “I have no benefit” from being a biological male facing natural-born females.
As reported at Outsports, Telfer insisted that he faces “disadvantages” against the natural-born women.
“But there are all these disadvantages of competing in the 100 hurdles, you know?” Telfer explained.
“First of all, my height, how tall I am, is a disadvantage, because the wind is hitting us so hard and the taller you are, the harder you fall, basically,” the runner added. “There’s wind resistance.” Telfer is over six-feet tall, but if you attend a WNBA game, you’ll find she is hardly the only woman of that height.”
Telfer also said that “the hurdles are so close.” Because of his stature, the hurdles are too close together as the opponents are all much shorter.
Telfer also addressed the testosterone issue:
‘And there are people who say I have the benefit of testosterone,’ Telfer said, her voice calm but insistent.
‘But no: I have no benefit. I’m on hormone suppression; it doesn’t help. It’s another disadvantage. Cis women are producing more testosterone than the average trans female.’
‘So it’s crazy! I’m the crazy one, to be the weakest female, the weakest link in the chain, to be competing against the top ones. I should be fingered as the stupid one, for wanting to do that in the first place.’
Franklin Pierce University track coach Zach Emerson also chimed in to insist that the testosterone blockers Telfer has been taking have materially altered his physique.
“She has lost muscle, she lost some weight,” Emerson said. “She is not as explosive or as fast. A lot of her lifting numbers have gone down, so strength-wise, that has gone down quite a bit. Last year, her time slowed down considerably over the previous year’s, as her muscle mass decreased.”
Emerson added that the “transphobic” attack on Telfer is “complete bullshit.” Emerson added that parents who complain when their biological daughters face a transgender in school sports are wrong.
“As a college coach,” Emerson said, “I think if you asked any college coach about that argument, they would laugh at that. We look at paper; we don’t look at finishes; we don’t look at who’s a state champ, we look at what their time was.”
Telfer also noted that the beginnings of the transition that started last year came after years of anguish about gender.
“It was so hard; it was really rough. I was so uncomfortable in my skin, my body was so uncomfortable,” Telfer told Outsports. “When I heard the call for the men to line-up for the 110-meter hurdles, I wanted to be the last person when we were in line to get our numbers and our bibs, so like nobody could see me. When I was leaning up on the lane with the male athletes, I was just like ‘This is just not it. This is not ‘me,’ but I have to put it aside right now because I’m about to perform and I’m going to give it my all and give it my best.'”
Coach Emerson had nothing but praise.
“She was so much stronger through this entire last year than I was ever possible of giving her credit for. She deserves all the freaking credit in the world,” he said.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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