Trans runner Glenique Frank, 52, wearing a sports bra, beat out 14,000 actual women during the London Marathon, and then went viral when he stopped to speak with a BBC reporter who was covering the race on Sunday, flexing his biceps above rainbow-colored armbands.
Frank ran in the New York Marathon on Nov. 6 as a man. He then ran the London Marathon as a woman. He has run 17 marathons including Tokyo and Chicago last year and plans to run in the “six majors” including Berlin and Boston. It’s unknown which sex he will run as.
“Girl power!” Frank proclaimed while showing off his runner’s physique. His social media still shows him running earlier as a balding man, according to the New York Post.
While speaking with the BBC reporter during the race, Frank gushed about how his “beautiful son” is expecting a baby.
Biological man who identifies as a woman competes in Female Category at the London marathon.
The 52 year old man, Glenique Frank seen here draped in the Trans Flag was slammed by a prominent female Olympic athlete for competing against women.
Two-time Olympic marathoner Mara… pic.twitter.com/xoZ5I1ISrP
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 25, 2023
Biological Man competes in FEMALE Category for London Marathon!
The 52 year old man, Glenique Frank, slammed those criticizing him for competing against women saying:
“I haven't cheated, I've not taken somebody's prize money away.”
On March 31st, UK Athletics banned men… pic.twitter.com/fuDLLEeWhO
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 25, 2023
“So I’m going to be a gran — Granny G!” Frank declared before running off, draped in a blue, pink, and white transgender flag, to finish the race.
His grandstanding and switching sexes to compete in running events did not sit well with other athletes.
“Males in the [female] category is UNFAIR for females,” Olympic marathoner Mara Yamauchi tweeted.
“This male ran in yesterday’s #LondonMarathon as Glenique Frank in the female category (Mass race) finishing in 6160th place out of 20123. So nearly 14,000 actual females suffered a worse finish position bc of him,” she commented while also noting that when she “ranked second in the world” as a woman “at least 1300 men ran faster than me.”
in the F category, finishing 2829th out of 8609. So nearly 6000 females in worse finish position.
Last Nov, he ran the NYC Marathon as Glen Frank in the men’s category, finishing 14,096th out of 26,539.
Since 31 March, @WorldAthletics & @BritAthletics have banned….
— Mara Yamauchi (@mara_yamauchi) April 24, 2023
racing Berlin & Chicago later this year then last WMM next year (must be Boston) – I wonder which category will take his fancy then?
And to those who say the non-binary category is good bc it keeps males out of the F category, you are wrong.#SaveWomensSports 👎🤬
— Mara Yamauchi (@mara_yamauchi) April 24, 2023
The UK Athletics applied World Athletics’ rules on the exclusion of transgender women from elite female competitions at the end of March in order to make it “fair for athletes who have gone through male puberty to be excluded from the female category in athletics.” Those who had already entered races were still allowed to compete in categories that were not their biological sex.
“This male competed under UK Athletics’ transitional arrangements, but it is still wrong and unfair,” Yamauchi told Telegraph Sport in an interview.
Telegraph reported, “In this month’s Manchester Marathon, there were at least two biological males running as females. One, marking a ‘last ever UK marathon as an official lady’, told the 73 per cent of women beaten to “eat my dust”, while wearing a pink T-shirt with the message ‘F— UK Athletics’, after the national governing body chose to protect fairness for women in sport.”
“While most transgender controversies in sport are restricted to the elite level, Yamauchi is adamant that the Frank case should not be ignored. ‘Some people say that if males are on the podium, it matters, but not if they finish lower down,’ she said. ‘What this effectively says is that women and girls who are not that good at sport don’t deserve fairness, which I think is appalling.'” the media outlet reported.
Cathy Devine, who is a former lecturer in sport and physical activity at the University of Cumbria, accused the London Marathon of “enabling” trans runners.
“Zero categories that exclude male performance advantage. Goddess forbid that female runners should have their own category celebrating what women runners can do,” she ranted in a tweet.
Frank was asked about the backlash and laughed at it, telling the New York Post, “Apparently I’ve stirred up the hornets’ nest.”
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