Transwomen in women's sports: Difference between revisions

* Males weight about 15% more on average<ref name="pmid15544194">Ogden CL, Fryar CD, Carroll MD, Flegal KM (2004) [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad347.pdf Mean body weight, height, and body mass index, United States 1960-2002.] ''Adv Data''  (347):1-17. PMID: [https://pubmed.gov/15544194 15544194]</ref>

* Males are about 15 cm (6 in) taller on average<ref name="pmid15544194"/>

* Males have denser and therefore more durable bones on average<ref name="pmid16637873">Benjamin M, Toumi H, Ralphs JR, Bydder G, Best TM, Milz S (2006) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks&id=16637873 Where tendons and ligaments meet bone: attachment sites ('entheses') in relation to exercise and/or mechanical load.] ''J Anat'' 208 (4):471-90. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7580.2006.00540.x DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7580.2006.00540.x] PMID: [https://pubmed.gov/16637873 16637873]</ref>

* Males have stronger tendons and ligaments on average<ref name="pmid16637873" />

* Males on avreage have greater total muscle mass<ref name="Janssen">Janssen, I., Heymsfield, S. B., Wang, Z., & Ross, R. (2000). [http://jap.physiology.org/content/89/1/81 Skeletal muscle mass and distribution in 468 men and women aged 18–88 yr.] Journal of Applied Physiology, 89(1), 81-88. doi:10.1152/jappl.2000.89.1.81 </ref>

* Males on average have a greater ratio of muscle mass to total body mass<ref name="Janssen"/>

* Males have about 56% greater lung volume relative to body mass<ref name="Glucksmann">Glucksmann, A. (1981). Sexual dimorphism in human and mammalian biology and pathology. London: Academic Press. pp. 66–75</ref>

* Males have larger hearts, with 10% higher red blood cell count and higher haemoglobin, meaning greater oxygen carrying capacity, although the difference is less pronounced among athletes<ref name="Glucksmann"/>

* Males have higher circulating "clotting factors" which allow for faster healing of wounds and higher peripheral pain tolerance<ref name="Glucksmann"/>

The differences in strength can be very significant. For instance, gross measures of body strength suggest that women are approximately only 50% to 60% as strong as men in the upper body, and 60% to 70% as strong in the lower body.<ref name="pmid8477683">Miller AE, MacDougall JD, Tarnopolsky MA, Sale DG (1993) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks&id=8477683 Gender differences in strength and muscle fiber characteristics.] ''Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol'' 66 (3):254-62. PMID: [https://pubmed.gov/8477683 8477683]</ref> A study of hand-grip strength found that even elite female athletes can be surpassed by a man with no athletic training.<ref name="pmid17186303">Leyk D, Gorges W, Ridder D, Wunderlich M, Rüther T, Sievert A et al. (2007) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks&id=17186303 Hand-grip strength of young men, women and highly trained female athletes.] ''Eur J Appl Physiol'' 99 (4):415-21. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00421-006-0351-1 DOI:10.1007/s00421-006-0351-1] PMID: [https://pubmed.gov/17186303 17186303]</ref> Another study of sports performance in various disciplines found that males tend to perform 5.5% to 36.8% better, depending on the discipline.<ref name="pmid24149688">Thibault V, Guillaume M, Berthelot G, Helou NE, Schaal K, Quinquis L et al. (2010) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks&id=24149688 Women and Men in Sport Performance: The Gender Gap has not Evolved since 1983.] ''J Sports Sci Med'' 9 (2):214-23. PMID: [https://pubmed.gov/24149688 24149688]</ref>

Male transgender mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter [[Fallon Fox]] has brutalized a female opponent, Tamikka Brents, causing her to suffer a concussion, an orbital bone fracture, and seven staples to the head, in the first round. After her loss, Brents took to social media to convey her thoughts on the experience of fighting Fox: "I've fought a lot of women and have never felt the strength that I felt in a fight as I did that night. I can't answer whether it's because she was born a man or not because I'm not a doctor. I can only say, I've never felt so overpowered ever in my life and I am an abnormally strong female in my own right," she stated. "Her grip was different, I could usually move around in the clinch against other females but couldn't move at all in Fox's clinch..."<ref>Cage Potato. (n.d.). After Being TKO'd by Fallon Fox, Tamikka Brents Says Transgender Fighters in MMA ‘Just Isn’t Fair’. [online] Available at: https://archive.is/yZfcs [Accessed 31 Jan. 2019].</ref> Fox has won 5 out of 6 MMA fights in total.

Male transgender cyclist [[Rachel McKinnon]] won the women’s 35-44 sprint during the UCI Masters Track Cycling World Championships in Los Angeles, in October 2018.<ref>Ballinger, A. (2019). Rachel McKinnon becomes first transgender woman to win track world title - Cycling Weekly. [online] Cycling Weekly. Available at: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/rachel-mckinnon-becomes-first-transgender-woman-win-track-world-title-397473 [Accessed 31 Jan. 2019].</ref> Third place finisher Jennifer Wagner commented that this was unfair, and later commented on Twitter that she would work on getting the rules changed, which Rachel McKinnon characterized as transphobic.

Two male transgender high school athletes, [[Terry Miller]] and [[Andraya Yearwood]], won first and second place in the Connecticut state championship 100-meter dash in 2018. Miller also won first place in the 200-meter dash.<ref>Hudak, A. (2018, June 14). Transgender track stars win state championship, ignites debate over rules. Retrieved from https://www.wkbn.com/news/national-world/transgender-track-stars-win-state-championship-ignites-debate/1238813951 </ref>

Canadian professional downhill mountain-bike competitor [[Michelle Dumaresq]], who is a [[Sex reassignment surgery|post-operative]] male-born transsexual, won the 2002 Canada Cup series, which qualified Dumaresq for the Canadian National team. In September 2002, Dumaresq co-represented Canada at the World Mountain Bike Championships. However, due to technical issues with the bike, Dumaresq only managed a 24th-place finish in the event. In 2003, Dumaresq won the 2003 Canadian National Championships and again represented Canada in the 2003 World Championships. Dumaresq repeated a Nationals win in 2004 and finished 17th at the 2004 World Mountain Bike Championships held in Les Gets, France.