Winning!

[kandrathe]

Brave? I'd say craving attention and wanting a free gold medal. I guess these days, that epitomizes bravery in some circles.

I'd say no one goes through gender reassignment because they crave gold medals. If a person does transition, should they no longer qualify to compete according to the rules? Bravery is when you intentionally walk into the face of adversity, knowing full well you have adversaries gunning for you.

I remember the Olympics before the wall fell, where it was pretty widely known that females were loaded with testosterone from puberty until just a year before competition. This is the unfairness really, that Laurel has had the advantage of maturing with male musculature. Her gender transition is only relevant in how the Sports governing bodies enforce their rules in placing her in their antiquated structures. There would be no issues if gender were not the method of weight class discrimination, but rather some fair method of gender inclusive competition based on natural handicaps. This is not Laurel's fault (her choosing to be herself), but rather the governing bodies use of gender in discrimination.