Glenique Frank, who came in 6160th place in the London marathon, explained she was forced to run the New York marathon as a male because of the name and gender listed on her passport.
Accusations against Frank
Frank was accused of cheating real women out of place” in the marathon. The 54-year-old transgender runner gushed to BBC about honoring “girl power” after the race. Despite finishing in 6160th place, the runner beat 14k women.
Mara Yamauchi expressed her anger on Twitter
The Olympian runner Mara Yamauchi tweeted, "This male ran in yesterday’s London Marathon as Glenique Frank in the female category (Mass race), finishing in 6160th place out of 20123."
Yamauchi continued talking numbers
"So nearly 14,000 actual females suffered a worse finish position bc of him." Yamauchi added, "Last month, he ran in the Tokyo Marathon, as Glen Frank, also…"
Yamauchi also spoke to Telegraph
She told Telegraph Sport, "World Athletics and UK Athletics have rules that post-puberty males competing in the female category is unfair. This male competed under UK Athletics’ transitional arrangements, but it is still wrong and unfair.”
Frank talked to the Post
Frank confirmed she competed as a man in previous marathons, claiming that in New York, she had to use the name and gender listed in her passport.
The rules were different in London
As a British citizen, Frank was allowed to use different rules. Talking to The Post, she elaborated, "I ticked female because I see myself as female." Glenique came out as trans three years ago, and the name represents a combination of Glen and "unique."
Frank said she understands the criticism
The trans runner also said, “I feel sad that I’ve upset Mara because I respect her.” She also claims to understand the backlash and will “going to enter under "other" or "male" from now on.
The runner wishes there was a transgender category
Frank shared she wished there was a transgender category and told PinkNews, “I feel bad when I run as I don’t have my hair on, and I get gender dysphoria. When I take my hair off, I just see an ugly boy." She added she knew she was in the wrong body since she was five.
Running for charities
The runner also shared that in the past 17 years, she has raised over £30,000 for various UK charities. Despite the backlash, Frank says she feels stronger and wants to “fight for all humans and spread joy and happiness and the rainbow.”
London marathon accused of "Enabling"
Cathy Devine, a former educator in sport and physical activity at the University of Cumbria, asserted that the London marathon was "enabling." She tweeted, “This is what the London Marathon is enabling… zero categories that exclude male performance advantage. Goddess forbid that female runners should have their own category celebrating what women runners can do.”
A number of athletes spoke up against trans athletes in female sports
Only days ago, Former NCAA star swimmer Riley Gaines said, " I watched first-hand women lose out on opportunities. I watched women not become All-Americans, missing that eighth and 16th place because they were displaced by a male."
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