‘DUMPED BY EMAIL,’ Says Emily Bridges’ Mother

The mother of Emily Bridges has promised to take suitable measures after British Cycling reported it will ban transgender cyclists from racing following the suspension of its policy on the matter.

In a statement, the body said the existing policy, which permits trans women to compete in female races if their testosterone levels are below five nanomoles per litre for a period of 12 months, is unfair to all women riders and said a full review would take place in the coming weeks.

The statement added that they understood there were problems concerning the extent to which their existing policy properly reflected the Sports Councils’ Equity Group guidance.

The body has also confirmed it will consult women and the transgender and non-binary communities, as they aspire to provide all within their sport with the transparency and understanding they deserve.

Sandy, Bridges’ mother, however, responded soon after the statement was made public, claiming she’d been dumped in her email inbox, and confirmed the family would make a statement of their own in the next 24 hours.

In a reply to another tweet from a private account, she responded that she would take action, the proper action.

British Cycling had originally cleared transgender cyclist Bridges to ride before the Union Cyclist Internationale (UCI) interceded and prohibited the rider from competing in the British National Omnium Championships last Saturday.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson then joined the transgender controversy on Wednesday when he said that he didn’t believe that biological men should be competing in female sporting events.

Bridges previously received funding of at least £8,000 when she was on British Cycling’s senior academy as a male rider named Zach as recently as 2020.

After beginning hormone therapy last year, she now wants to compete in women’s events but was thwarted last week by the UCI, which has assembled an expert panel to examine her case ahead of a decision next month.

UK Sport however defied Boris Johnson by announcing they would be willing to give public funding to Bridges if she’s cleared to race in women’s events.

UK Sport chief executive Sally Munday said that they would support every or any athlete who a sport or governing body has considered to have prospective potential and is suitable to compete.

She said that with regards to what is said politically, they’ve been transparent in their guidance and that it’s down to sports to determine what the regulations should be.

In recent years numerous trans athletes have started to partake in competitive sports, but it appears that society hasn’t become as progressive as one might think.

There have been many that have applauded this change, but the inclusion of trans athletes in professional competition remains positively contentious with many stressing unfair advantages between trans and cis athletes, and because of this, existing regulations regarding the inclusion of trans athletes are highly challenged and research on the effects of gender-affirming hormones on trans athletes is widely lacking.

The study strives to examine current research on the long term effects of androgens and estrogens on trans athletes and offer insight into the future of trans athletes in professional sports. This was primarily done through a review of Robert et al.’s (2020) study and supplemented with various other contemporary studies.

Robert et al.’s (2020) longitudinal study of 29 trans men and 46 trans women in the US Air Force revealed that while gender-affirming hormones minimised the athletic gap between trans and cis athletes, ergogenic effects during puberty produced inherent advantages that couldn’t be altered by hormone exposure later in life.