Sport has begun a revisionist path regarding transsexual athletes. The creation of a new category, the limitations on the transition age or simply its expulsion from women's sports are already on the table of the international organizations that govern the different competitions. Swimming, rugby or athletics and announced their firm decision to exclude trans athletes in their competitions. Numerous scientific studies have tried to demonstrate the injustice of including trans athletes in female categories. One of the most resounding,conducted with military personnel, suggests that transgender women maintain an athletic advantage over their cisgender peers even after hormone therapy.
However, This retreat by certain federations has not managed to put an end to the complaints. Since the participation of self-identified female athletes began to compete in the female categories, complaints to sports organizations have been constant and in all types of sports. However, in cycling there have been especially numerous with cases like those of Tiffany Thomas, Emily Bridges, Cara Dixon or the former combatant in Iraq Roger Bombardier They have already sparked a bitter debate about whether the inclusion of trans athletes constitutes a form of cheating.
Now, Lesley Mumford has become the poster child for the “dirty play” that feminists have been denouncing for years.
13 minutes over his rival
A year after winning a women's cycling title and climbing alone on the podium due to the abandonment of her rivals, trans athlete Lesley Mumford has once again taken first place in a women's category race. Mumford, 47, took gold in the Desert Gravel Co2uT 100-mile race in Fruita, Colorado, reports Reduxx.
Mumford placed first in the women's 40-49 age category, and was fourth in the women's category and 24th overall. A total of 949 participants, mostly men, competed in the race. There were three gender divisions: male, female and non-binary, and the only women who finished ahead of Mumford in the overall standings were those half her age.
In her category, Mumford surpassed the second classified for almost 13 minutes, finishing in 6 hours and 13 minutes compared to Jessica Davies' 6 hours and 26 minutes.
But this isn't the first time Mumford has dominated the race. In December 2023, she generated a lot of controversy for being “the only woman” to stand on the winner's podium in the Desert Gravel Co2Ut 100 miles. The media coverage was brutal and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, ironically shot to define the viral photo of Mumford alone on the podium: “Wow, I don't know where everyone is. I have won all the women, why didn't they come?” And Mumford was happy to seeing himself alone on the podium mocking the resignation of his rivals.
The scandal was such that a spokesperson for the race published on Facebook that none of the cyclists complained that there was a man in their category, and that Mumford “had undergone all surgeries and treatments required to transition from male to female and would therefore be classified as a female rider under USA Cycling and International Olympic Committee rules.”
But the reality is that Mumford He has won five titles in his 12-month cycling career. This includes a second-place finish at the December 2023 women's Colorado State Cyclocross.
Mumford began identifying as female in 2017 and has referred to himself as “a single mother with a full-time job and more aspirations than time.”
SWAT chief
His professional career is also impressive. He was operations commander for the Summit County Sheriff's Office in Ohio. She was in law enforcement for 17 years, leading a SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics Group) team, and became the first transgender woman to be accepted into the FBI National Academy in its 83-year history.
Wesley Mumfordaccording to critics, made the transition to winning races and, of course, he has succeeded.