Trans-identified male wins US women's national weightlifting competition, breaks records

A trans-identified male won in the women’s division of the 2024 USA Weightlifting Masters Nationals which took place between March 21 and 24 in Reno, Nevada.

57-year-old Vicki Piper came in first place in the women’s 76-kilogram weight category, writing on Instagram that both lifts were competition personal records. In the sport of weightlifting, lifters undergo two lifts: the snatch and the clean and jerk, and the heaviest lift of each is counted in the athlete’s final total.

Piper came out on top with a total of 127, 17 ahead of second-place finisher Krista Dornbush.

In the snatch, Piper lifted 56 kilograms, or around 123 pounds, and in the clean and jerk Piper lifted 71 kgs, or 156 lbs. Dornbush lifted 46 kgs, or 101 lbs in the snatch and 64 kgs, or 141 lbs in the clean and jerk.

Piper wrote on Instagram that this was the first national weightlifting competition for the athlete, who stood a head taller than the female athletes on the podium.

"Thank you USA Weightlifting for hosting such a well thought out and supportive event here in Reno, Nevada," Piper wrote.

USA Weightlifting’s rules on transgender athletes state that trans-identified males must show evidence of undergoing hormone therapy for at least two years "to minimize gender related competition advantages."

Trans weightlifters must submit a formal letter requesting to participate in USAW-sanctioned events as well as an application. That is reviewed by the Eligibility Committee, which can request things such as relevant medical records of the athlete, and a decision is made.

The policy covers transgender weightlifters who want to compete at events below the international level, such as the Olympics, which in January announced a new framework on transgender athletes in competition, which removed the hormone level requirements for transgender athletes, according to NBC News.