Champion trans powerlifter is stripped of titles – Governing body says Mary Gregory was ‘still a man’ when she won the female records
Mary Gregory, from Virginia, set world records in the women’s squat, bench press, and deadlift, and had earned a ‘Masters total world record’ for her powerlifting scores across the board last month.
Four days later world lifting body stripped the 44-year-old champion powerlifter from Virginia of all titles won at the April 27 event
RAW Powerlifting Federation has said Gregory was ‘actually male’ at the time she set the female records
Body president said they use ‘physiological classification’ not ‘identification’ – because Gregory could not be officially classified as ‘female,’ she didn’t technically break any world records
Construction worker, who started lifting before transition Gregory insists that having a penis or not plays no part in lifting
While lifting has helped her transition, it’s actually hurt her athletic performance, she said
Woman in a male body: Mary Gregory [photo] who set world records in the women’s squat, bench press, and deadlift, and had earned a ‘Masters total world record’ for her powerlifting scores across the board, should not have been competing during her transition, the powerlifting body has ruled
Before – After: Three Virginia driving licenses track Gregory’s transition from a man [left] to a woman [right]
Mary Gregory thanked the same federation on Instagram after winning several titles in April, 2019. However, days later organizers of the 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation meet in Virginia stripped her of several records she broke, as well as her trophies
‘Our rules, and the basis of separating genders for competition, are based on physiological classification rather than identification’ the federation said in a statement after the ruling. But construction worker, Gregory insists that having a penis or not plays no part in lifting.
In a video Gregory posted, people are heard cheering her on: “Come on, Mary!”. Four days later, she learned that powerlifting officials had stripped her of her titles.
Mary Gregory who was born male, revealed that that the federation discovered she was assigned male at birth by insisting that an official sit in while she took a urine test. She has changed her name, her ID, has been on estrogen and spironolactone for 11 months and already seen significant results, including breast development
Gregory posted her achievement on Instagram, and that did not go unnoticed. Multiple conservative websites blew her achievement out of proportion, she said.
“There were plenty of other lifters that day that broke multiple world records,” said Gregory. “Male and female.”
But most surprising, she said, was the in-person reaction she received from the meet director, compared to what happened after.
On May 1, following days of negative press, the federation president Paul Bossi issued a statement calling Gregory “male,” announcing plans to revise its policies to create a “transgender category,” and erasing her record lifts.
Bossi and the federation declined to comment beyond the statement.
One line in that statement was particularly grating to Gregory: “It was revealed that this female lifter was actually a male in the process of becoming a transgender female.”
“It infuriated me,” she told Outsports. Gregory has changed her name, her ID, has been on estrogen and spironolactone for 11 months and already seen significant results, including breast development.
Since beginning powerlifting, she’s significantly lost weight, from 270 pounds almost four years ago to 179 now. But Gregory notes that while lifting has helped her transition, it’s actually hurt her athletic performance.
She posted on her Instagram profile that prior to starting on hormones, she could lift 408 pounds in the squat, 298 in the bench press and 507 in the deadlift. Now, since starting HRT, those numbers are drastically lower: 314, 233, and 424 pounds.
“There were plenty of other lifters that day that broke multiple world records,” said Gregory. “Male and female.”
But most surprising, she said, was the in-person reaction she received from the meet director, compared to what happened after.
On May 1, following days of negative press, the federation president Paul Bossi issued a statement calling Gregory “male,” announcing plans to revise its policies to create a “transgender category,” and erasing her record lifts.
Bossi and the federation declined to comment beyond the statement.
One line in that statement was particularly grating to Gregory: “It was revealed that this female lifter was actually a male in the process of becoming a transgender female.”
“It infuriated me,” she told Outsports. Gregory has changed her name, her ID, has been on estrogen and spironolactone for 11 months and already seen significant results, including breast development.
Since beginning powerlifting, she’s significantly lost weight, from 270 pounds almost four years ago to 179 now. But Gregory notes that while lifting has helped her transition, it’s actually hurt her athletic performance.
She posted on her Instagram profile that prior to starting on hormones, she could lift 408 pounds in the squat, 298 in the bench press and 507 in the deadlift. Now, since starting HRT, those numbers are drastically lower: 314, 233, and 424 pounds.
Leave a Reply