- Previously known to many as Wilfrid Forgues, Sandra Forgues is an Olympic athlete that won a gold medal in the C-2 canoe event at the 1996 Summer Olympics held at Atlanta.
- She said that she went through difficulties over the years regarding her identity and finally decided to transition about a year and a half ago.
- There has not been an openly transgender person to participate in the Olympics, but in the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, several transgender women are looking forward to be part of their country’s teams.
A French Olympiad has publicly announced her coming out as a transgender, transitioning from male to female according to the transgender top stories by SBNation Outsports posted last April 4.
Previously known to many as Wilfrid Forgues, Sandra Forgues is an Olympic athlete that won a gold medal in the C-2 canoe event at the 1996 Summer Olympics held at Atlanta. In 1992, she won the bronze medal when the Olympics were held at Barcelona, Spain.
Transition
In an interview to a French publication, Forgues said that she went through difficulties over the years regarding her identity and finally decided to transition about a year and a half ago.
“I live a dream,” she shared. “Until then, I had a really successful social, family and professional life. I was engaged in a billion things. But my intimate life was in a prison. I always thought it would be one or the other.”
Forgues is a multi-awarded athlete and was a dominant player in the sport of slalom canoe in the late 1980’s until the early 2000’s.
She was awarded the gold medal in the world championships in 1991 and 1997. She also won silver in 1995 and bronze in 1993. In the team event with her partner Frank Adisson, she garnered 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medals.
Transgender athletes in Olympics
There has not been an openly transgender person to participate in the Olympics, but in the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, several transgender women are looking forward to be part of their country’s teams according to a related news by SBNation Outsports.
For instance, the Hawaiian volleyball player and trans woman Tia Thompson was approved by the United States national sports organization to compete in the volleyball tournaments in May.
In Brazil, Tiffany Abreu, also a volleyball player and transgender woman, wanted to be included in the roster of the renowned national team. Already playing professionally in Brazil’s biggest tournament, she had been the center of the debate regarding inclusion.
“Just like any other player, I’d like to go to the Olympics,” Abreu said in an interview. “But I know it’s not going to happen just because I’m getting all this attention. I’ve got to do my best as a player.”
One other transgender athlete, weightlifter Laurel Hubbard from New Zealand, had won the silver medal in the world championship and is set to compete in the Commonwealth Games this month amidst protest from Australia.
Updated rules in the Olympics
The governing body of the Olympics had updated its rules over transgender players.
The International Olympic Committee modified the policy of admitting national team representatives by setting a standard on testosterone levels among transgender women for a period of at least 12 months.
Their eligibility would be evaluated on a per-case basis and they might be asked to comply to the regulations over several years before they are permitted to join the Olympic Games.
Other international sporting groups had considered modifying their existing provisions to forward inclusivity. For example, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) met last January to discuss the participation of trans athletes in the sports of volleyball.
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