New Zealand Announces 25 Rider Team for MTB World Champs
Cycling New Zealand is the first federation to announce its team for the 2019 World Championships in Mont Sainte Anne and it will be sending a 25 strong team for XC and downhill.
New Zealand's last senior World Champs win came from Vanessa Quin in the Les Gets downhill in 2004 but Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze are both two-time winners at junior level in the XC and Brook MacDonald also picked up a gold medal as a junior in 2009. Those three riders will likely hold New Zealand's medal hopes in Canada this year too, along with Kate Weatherly in the women's downhill. The full selection of riders is below:
XC
Elite men
- Anton Cooper (North Canterbury, Trek Factory),
- Sam Gaze (Cambridge, Specialized),
- Ben Oliver (North Canterbury, Subway Hub).
Junior men
- Connor Johnston (Rotorua)
- Caleb Bottcher (Palmerston North)
- Matthew Wilson (Auckland).
Junior Women
- Sammie Maxwell (Taupo)
- Ruby Ryan (Rotorua).
Downhill
Elite men
- Sam Blenkinsop (Christchurch, Norco Factory)
- George Brannigan (Hawkes Bay, GT Factory)
- Brook MacDonald (Hawkes Bay, MS Mondraker Team)
- Ed Masters (New Plymouth, Pivot Factory)
- Wyn Masters (New Plymouth, GT Factory)
- Matt Walker (Rotorua, Pivot Factory)
- Keegan Wright (Rotorua).
Junior men
- Alex Barke (Queenstown, Subway Performance Hub)
- Sam Gale (Queenstown, Subway Performance Hub)
- Finn Hawkesby-Brown (Christchurch)
- Finn Parsons (Rotorua)
- Blake Ross (Auckland, Subway Performance Hub)
- Tuhoto-Ariki Pene (Rotorua, Subway Performance Hub),
- Louis Vuleta (Cambridge).
Elite women
- Kate Weatherly (Auckland)
- Virginia Armstrong (Auckland).
Junior women
- Fiona Murray (Wanaka).
The UCI currently follows IOC rules that transgender athletes must have total testosterone levels below 10 nmol/L during and for at least 12 months before competition.
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Specifically, please don’t violate our terms of use, which state that any hate speech or personal attacks will not be tolerated. Transgender advocates, social media platforms, and other media companies consider misgendering and ‘deadnaming’ (using someone’s former name) as slurs and personal attacks.
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link to the study: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190212160030.htm
Either way, have a read here: interactives.stuff.co.nz/2018/03/a-level-playing-field this was a very carefully considered decision by the UCI
The article literally argues against the point you infer about decreasing the maximum testosterone limit to make it 'fair'.
For anyone who wants a quick wrap up of the article - 7 in 1000 female athletes have high testosterone levels. The research that recommended an upper limit on female testosterone levels contained results that could not be replicated - "17-32% of the data used in the original study was found to be in error".
There are women out there who might naturally be at levels close to 10nmol/l, should they be punished for being outliers? Isn't elite sport all about outliers? www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/we-celebrated-michael-phelpss-genetic-differences-why-punish-caster-semenya-for-hers/2019/05/02/93d08c8c-6c2b-11e9-be3a-33217240a539_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.84bbca9b2138
I don't know if there are drugs that could safely shift one's brain to opposite extreme.
@scott-townes could be either....or both......
" I started hormone blockers in May of 2015. I think ironically I could have competed in the female field long before I did actually choose to swap over.
The rule is just that you have to have a year with testosterone below a certain level and I’ve been below that level since November of 2015.
I have to take a blood test every three months to make sure I can compete, if I fail to register at the correct levels of testosterone then that resets and I need to wait another year before I can compete again.
But for me, there’s so much more about the transition than just the racing. So for me if my testosterone was to go up, it would lead to all the physical changes that I have tried to avoid, like facial hair.
I mean, since since November 2015 my Testosterone levels have never been above 1.4 nanomoles as a point of reference. The average female range is .5 to 2.5, so basically well within.
And my normal test result is, I think, .4 so basically well below the average range."
Unsure as to why no U23 XCO riders (Male or Female) were given a shot though
There are rules! They are respected: no cheating. End of debate!
hmm