© Mary Gregory/InstagramTrans powerlifter Mary Gregory
On Instagram, transgender powerlifter Mary Gregory shared her joy at winning 'nine out of nine' events at the Raw Powerlifting Federation Event - and setting new world records for Masters Squat, Open bench, Masters dead lift and Masters total.
"Still processing, full meet recap to come a bit later but I do want to thank a few people," said Mary in her Instagram post.
"A huge thank you to @raw_powerlifting_federation_, from the bottom of my heart! As a transgender lifter I was unsure what to expect going into this meet and everyone - all the spotters, loaders, referees, staff, meet director, all made me welcome and treated me as just another female lifter- thank you!
"And thanks to all the fans in the audience who cheered me on and congratulated me!"
However, former swimming champion Sharron Davies isn't congratulating Mary - and neither is Double Olympic Champion Dame Kelly Holmes.
On Twitter, Sharron said: "This is a trans woman a male body with male physiology setting a world record & winning a woman's event in America in powerlifting. A woman with female biology cannot compete... it's a pointless unfair playing field."
Her tweet has been like more than 4,000 times and attracted hundreds of messages of support - including one from Double Olympic Champion Dame Kelly Holmes, who said: "It's a bloody joke and all getting ready for biological women to boycott certain events. Have a trans category if need be but even better a trans games.
"Otherwise I'm starting to worry about the backlash and abuse that the trans community will get from spectators. It will happen!"
Reader Comments
If not supported by ubiquitous dispensing of hormone-disbalancing chemicals, this trans-gender charade will collapse under it's own weight.
Just say no... remember when Nancy Reagan said that about drugs? and look how that was flipped into 'just ask your doctor/pusher'.... and so it goes... like Wiley Coyote over the cliff of sanity... same with the markets.... same everywhere you look here in the OWO... the zombie state... they know not what they do... but those pulling their strings DO.