As the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics, Laurel Hubbard, 43, is poised to make history this summer in Toyko.
Born a male, Hubbard set junior records competing against men in the M105+ division in her home country of New Zealand in 1998 before transitioning in 2013. As a woman, she’s won two gold medals at the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa and a gold at the Roma 2020 World Cup in Italy. Now competing against female lifters in the +87kg (192 pounds) category, she’s ranked 15th in the world.
