By Giulia Segreti
LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Swedish transgender freestyle skier Elis Lundholm called on young people to “be themselves and do what they want to do” after taking part in a qualifier for the women’s moguls at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday.
Lundholm, 23, who was born female and identifies as a man, said he preferred not to dwell on the wider debate around gender in sport.
“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it that much, I’m competing in the same conditions as everyone else,” he said. “I’m just skiing.”
Asked about the International Ski and Snowboard Federation’s intention to implement mandatory genetic gender testing, the freestyle skier said he just wanted “everyone to be able to compete fairly”.
Neither genetic gender testing, nor an impending change to International Olympic Committee’s guidelines on the inclusion of transgender athletes, would impact Lundholm’s eligibility to compete in the women’s category as it is the same gender as assigned at birth.
Asked what message he would send to young athletes, Lundholm said: “I guess I want everyone to be themselves and do what they want to do.”
A small number of openly transgender athletes have taken part in past editions of the Olympic Games.
New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in a different gender category to that assigned at birth when the weightlifter took part in the women’s event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Lundholm finished 25th overall in qualifying, missing a spot in the final.
“I am happy to have put down the run,” he said. “It was not the best run, there were some things to fix but I am happy.”
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti in Livigno; Editing by Alison Williams)
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