FILE – In this April 9, 2018 file photo, New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard lifts in the snatch of the women’s +90kg weightlifting final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia. Hubbard will be the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics.Hubbard is among five athletes confirmed on New Zealand’s weightlifting team for the Tokyo Games.
FILE – In this April 9, 2018 file photo, New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard lifts in the snatch of the women’s +90kg weightlifting final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia. Hubbard will be the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics. Hubbard is among five athletes confirmed on New Zealand’s weightlifting team for the Tokyo Games.
In this April 9, 2018 photo, New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard reacts after failing to make a lift in the snatch of the women’s +90kg weightlifting final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia.Hubbard will be the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics.Hubbard is among five athletes confirmed on New Zealand’s weightlifting team for the Tokyo Games.
FILE – In this April 9, 2018 file photo, New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard reacts after failing to lift in the snatch of the women’s +90kg weightlifting final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia. Hubbard will be the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics. Hubbard is among five athletes confirmed on New Zealand’s weightlifting team for the Tokyo Games.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Laurel Hubbard hefted 628 pounds (185 kilograms) in two lifts on the way to qualifying in the women’s super-heavyweight division for the Tokyo Olympics.
That’s heavy. But it’s nowhere near the figurative weight Hubbard has carried to become the first transgender athlete to compete at an Olympic Games.
Hubbard was among five weightlifters confirmed Monday in New Zealand’s team for Tokyo. At 43, she will also be the oldest weightlifter at the games, and will be ranked fourth in the competition on Aug. 2 for women 87 kilograms (192 pounds) and over.
Hubbard won a silver medal at the 2017 World Championships and gold in the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa. She competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games but sustained a serious injury that set back her career.
“I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders,” Hubbard said in a statement. “When I broke my arm at the Commonwealth Games three years ago, I was advised that my sporting career had likely reached its end. But your support, your encouragement, and your aroha (love) carried me through the darkness.
“The last eighteen months has shown us all that there is strength in kinship, in community, and in working together towards a common purpose. The mana of the silver fern comes all of you and I will wear it with pride.”
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