Champion women’s cyclocross rider Hannah Arensman quit the sport this week after being forced to compete against male athletes.
Her decision was made on Wednesday, some three months after coming 4th in the Cyclocross National Championships, where biological male riders who identify as female came 3rd and 5th.
‘My sister and family sobbed as they watched a man finish in front of me, having witnessed several physical interactions with him throughout the race,’ she said in a statement shared by the Independent Council on Women’s Sports.
‘Additionally, it is difficult for me to think about the very real possibility I was overlooked for an international selection on the US team at Cyclocross Worlds in February 2023 because of a male competitor.’
Arensman said it ‘become increasingly discouraging to train as hard as I do only to have to lose to a man with the unfair advantage of an androgenized body that intrinsically gives him an obvious advantage over me, no matter how hard I train.
‘I feel for young girls learning to compete and who are growing up in a day when they no longer have a fair chance at being the new record holders and champions in cycling.
‘I have felt deeply angered, disappointed, overlooked, and humiliated that the rule makers of women’s sports do not feel it is necessary to protect women’s sports to ensure fair competition for women anymore.’
