Two trans athletes ruled the day at a Chicago women’s cycling event, placing first and second and dominating the competition. The Chicago Cyclocross Cup series saw its leaderboard topped by the two trans cyclists and now is facing scrutiny over the fairness and equitably of allowing those riders to compete in the women’s race.
Tessa Johnson, a 25-year-old biological male cyclist, won the CX Women Singlespeed race with an impressive 38:48. Tessa smoked the next closest competitor, winning the race in commanding fashion. The second-place finisher was Evelyn Williamson, a 30-year-old biological male who nearly broke the 40-minute mark, finishing in 40:20.
Pictures from the podium have been a hot topic of debate on Twitter as it has become the most recent focal point of our nation’s disagreement surrounding transgender athletes.
At Chicago’s CycloCross Cup in the women’s SingleSpeed race, the only woman atop the podium was in third place—Allison Zmuda.
Transgender cyclists Tessa Johnson and Evelyn Williamson took the TOP TWO spots in the event.
Johnson also won first place in the women’s Cat Half, and… pic.twitter.com/Y4zEtnUsXo
— Julia
(@Jules31415) October 14, 2023
This is not the first time that Johnson has won the female division of this event. According to MSN, Johnson won the women’s event in 2020, a year in which she competed in both the men’s and women’s races. Tessa did not place in the men’s race.
The Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for competitive cycling, tackled this issue earlier this year. They concluded that, although they believe cycling to be an inclusive sport than anyone can enjoy, allowing biological males to compete against biological females in the women’s category constituted an unfair competitive advantage for the former.
The statement read, “I would also like to reaffirm that the UCI fully respects and supports the right of individuals to choose the sex that corresponds to their gender identity, whatever sex they were assigned at birth. However, it has a duty to guarantee, above all, equal opportunities for all competitors in cycling competitions.”
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“It is this imperative that led the UCI to conclude that, given the current state of scientific knowledge does not guarantee such equality of opportunity between transgender female athletes and cisgender female participants, it was not possible, as a precautionary measure, to authorize the former to race in the female categories.”
The website of the Chicago event has an FAQ question on the rules and regulations that are imposed on transgender athletes, saying, “Transgender racers have the same rights and responsibilities as all other racers as outlined in the USA Cycling Rulebook. If you have found your way to a CCC event to race your bike by those rules and have some fun in the process… then you’re welcome here. The CCC has always been first and foremost about fostering a positive & supportive community built around competitive cyclo-cross racing, and that means welcoming and challenging everyone who wants to contribute to the series and make it better.”
The website continued to say that any sort of fun being made at the expense of a transgender athlete would be punishable by dismissal from the event and disqualification. The Chicago Cyclocross Cup makes its opinion well known on the website, which should leave no questions as to how the event-runner feels about the most recent podium finishers.