Trans cyclists win first, second, third place in Washington women's grand prix race

At a Washington cycling championship on July 19, two-person teams featuring trans-identified male athletes took first, second, and third in a cycling relay race. Those teams featured one biological woman racing with a biological male. The next runner-up teams were comprised of only women.

At the Marymoor Grand Prix in Washington’s Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome, each of the top placing teams in the Elite Women’s Madison, a style of cycling race, featured a biological male: Jordan Lothrop in the first place team, Jenna Lingwood in the second, and Eva Lin in the third, according to Fox News.

Lothrop competed against men in the athlete’s home country of Canada as recently as last year, the Daily Mail reported. Lothrop was ranked 22 in the men’s Victoria Cycling League this time last year. Lingwood raced in the men’s division until 2017. Lin began racing in the women’s division in 2022.

Lingwood was also previously named in a 2023 amicus brief filed by a 35-time winner on the national cyclocross circuit, Hannah Arensman, in the Supreme Court, in which Arensman stated that she had retired from cycling after being forced to compete against transgender athletes like Lingswood.

Cycling’s governing body Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2023 announced changes to their policy on transgender athletes, which now states that transgender athletes who want to compete in the women’s division must have transitioned before puberty.

In an official statement released by UCI at the time, the sporting body confirmed that male athletes do have a "lasting advantage" over women. "Given the current state of scientific knowledge," the UCI said, "it is also impossible to rule out the possibility that biomechanical factors such as the shape and arrangement of the bones in their limbs may constitute a lasting advantage for female transgender athletes."

USA Cycling in January introduced new policies regarding transgender athletes. Those wishing to compete at top levels must undergo "elite athlete fairness evaluations" by independent medical panels and prove their testosterone levels have been below 2.5 nanomoles per liter for at least 24 months. Those competing at the ameteur level only need to complete a "self-identity verification request."