Retired cyclocross champion speaks out on trans athletes in women's sports: 'This is not fair sport'

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Hannah Arensman, a superstar cyclist who competed on the national cyclocross circuit, spoke out Friday about the decision to retire from the sport after she lost to Austin Killips at an event last year.

Killips, a transgender female who is allowed to compete in the women’s division, finished in third place at the UCI Cyclocross National Championships in December. Arensman finished in fourth and another transgender female, Jenna Lingwood, finished in fifth place. 

Arensman revealed she retired from the sport in an amicus brief calling for the Supreme Court to vacate a preliminary injunction against a West Virginia law that sought to keep transgender student-athletes at all levels of competition to play against those with the same biological gender instead of the gender they identify as. She was one of 67 athletes, coaches and family members who supported the law.

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Hannah Arensman competes in 2016. (Tim de Waele/Corbis via Getty Images)

Arensman suggested to The Telegraph in a recent interview that the influx of transgender female athletes competing against biological women is a bad sign for the future of the category.

"I realized that if an opportunity presented itself to say something on behalf of other women, then I would take it," she told the outlet. "This has gone on long enough, it has gone far enough. It should never have reached this point, it should never have been allowed. Someone has to take responsibility. This is not fair sport, and the governing bodies, who should have made the rules at the beginning, need to realize it. The very people who should be protecting our sport are not doing so."

Arensman said losing a podium spot in the championships to Killips was a moment that not only hurt her, but her family as well.

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"For my family, it ripped them to pieces," she told The Telegraph. "I know there are so many women torn up about this, but they’re afraid to say anything for fear of losing sponsors, of being beaten down on social media, the main platform for gaining sponsorship in the first place. So they won’t say anything, even though they’re infuriated."

Arensman said she understood why people are afraid to speak out and pointed to the incident Riley Gaines had to endure at San Francisco State University when she was attacked after a speaking engagement.

Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines spoke to Congress on Tuesday about an incident on April 6, 2023, when she claims to have been held for ransom at San Francisco State University. (Homeland Security Subcommittee via YouTube)

However, now that she is retired, Arensman is refusing to be quiet.

"Now that I’ve retired, people don’t really have anything that they can pull me back on and say, ‘If you want to keep racing, you had better shut up,’" she told The Telegraph. "No. I’m done with the sport. I’ve been a cyclist for 12 years, and that’s that. Now I can freely say stuff that has needed to be said for a while.

"I have a little sister, just 13 years old. With your younger siblings, you feel like you’re in some way responsible, to make sure that they’re protected. And I would hate to see her in a sport where she’s trying to compete against guys in her own field. It’s not right. In my last season, I was happiest at those races where I was racing against girls. 

"I thought, ‘This is like old times. I’m racing with people who are biologically like me.’ I know that I could put my absolute effort down, and wherever the chips landed, it would be true. I feel bad for the next generation of girls who are growing up. We need fair competition. It’s so important for learning about perseverance, for learning how to push ourselves, rather than taking the easy road."

Hannah Arensman cools down after the Junior Women's Individual Time Trial during  Individual Time Trial during day two of the UCI Road World Championships on Oct. 10, 2016 in Doha, Qatar. (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

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Arensman had finished in the top five in her final seven races. According to Cross Results, she had 35 wins in her career.