First transgender Olympian flops in weightlifting competition

The first transgender Olympian has flopped in weightlifting competition.

Laurel Hubbard’s groundbreaking Olympics debut didn’t quite go as planned.

Hubbard, who made history as the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics, was eliminated after failing to record a single lift in three attempts in Monday’s over-87-kilogram super-heavyweights.

The New Zealand native missed her first lift, at 120 kg in the snatch, with the bar going over her head and behind her back. The judges then ruled against her second attempt, at 125 kg. Her third attempt, also at 125 kg, also resulted in the bar going over her head, resulting in an unceremonious end to her competition.

Hubbard’s inclusion in the Games has proven to be a divisive topic, given that the 43-year-old had not competed internationally as a weightlifter until she began her gender transition at the age of 35.

Though Hubbard satisfies the protocol for transgender athletes as first established by the International Olympic Committee in 2015, her testosterone levels are still several times greater than the standard for biological women.