OREANDA-NEWS. State Duma deputy, Olympic speed skating champion Svetlana Zhurova told Moscow 24 that if transgender people win prizes at the Olympics, it could outrage women who are competing with them.

Earlier, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presented a new concept of fairness for transgender athletes. According to it, no participant can be excluded from the competition on the basis of transgender identity or gender differences.

At the same time, the organization clarified that they could not issue rules that would determine the admission criteria for each specific sport. This question in the IOC was left to the discretion of the federations.

“So far, only one transgender has participated, and she performed poorly this year in Tokyo. Perhaps this created the illusion among the IOC members that let them compete. Only transgender people will occupy the 6th to 6th places in women's sports. And women, as a result, will greatly outrage, "said the State Duma deputy.

According to Zhurova, the IOC presented only the concept, and the final decision should be made by all countries.

“I think that not all countries are ready yet. It is necessary to change the legislation of almost every country, the law, where the admission of transgender people on equal terms with women, should be, otherwise transgender people will not be at the Olympic Games,” the deputy explains.

Zhurova added that it is likely that a separate discipline should be created for transgender people, where they would compete with each other.

“By the way, I even imagined that Muslim men would have to fight in the fight against such a woman-man. No matter how it might lead people to simply refuse to go out on the carpet,” said the athlete.
Earlier, New Zealand athlete Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender person to compete in the Olympics. In 2021, in Tokyo, the weightlifter was unable to lift her starting weight and dropped out of the fight.

However, Hubbard explained why she decided to compete. According to the athlete, her main goal was recognition, not victory. The New Zealander clarified that with her performance she wanted to inspire other athletes and show them how diverse the world can be.