First ever transgender Olympic athlete Laurel Hubbard, 43, set to ‘hang up her boots’ after early weightlifting exit

WEIGHTLIFTER Laurel Hubbard has revealed she is set to retire from the sport following her exit from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The New Zealander made history this week by becoming the first transgender athlete to compete in an individual event at the Games. Hubbard, who was competing in the over 87kg division, couldn’t complete any of her first […]

WEIGHTLIFTER Laurel Hubbard has revealed she is set to retire from the sport following her exit from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The New Zealander made history this week by becoming the first transgender athlete to compete in an individual event at the Games.

AP

Laurel Hubbard is set to retire days after making history at the Olympics[/caption]

AP

Hubbard was unable to complete any of her three lift attempts[/caption]

Hubbard, who was competing in the over 87kg division, couldn’t complete any of her first three lifts and finished out of contention for a medal.

And despite making a huge impact on the sport, the 43-year-old has revealed that she is considering retiring just days after her Olympic debut.

As reported by the BBC, she said: “Really, age has caught up with me. In fact, if we’re being honest, it probably caught up with me some time ago.

“My involvement in sport has probably, due if nothing else to heroic amounts of anti-inflammatories.

“It’s probably time for me to start thinking about hanging up the boots and concentrating on other things in my life.”

Hubbard, who transitioned when she was 35, has been eligible to lift at the Olympics since 2015 following a change in IOC guidelines surrounding transgender athletes.

The Kiwi star expressed her gratitude that she was allowed to be authentic in Japan but downplayed her history-making role in the Games.

Hubbard added: “All I’ve ever wanted to be is myself.

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“I’m just so grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to come here and be me.

“These type of situations are always quite difficult for me because, as some of you may know, I have never really been involved with sport because I’m looking for publicity, profile or exposure.

“And while I recognize that my involvement in sport is a topic of considerable interest to some, in some ways I’m looking forward to this being the end of my journey of as an athlete and the attention that comes from it.”