Meet transgender runner born and raised as a man but now competes in women’s races

CeCe Telfer, (left) gets ready for a 60 m hurdles race [Courtesy]

The world of athletics may be up for an influx of transgender athletes who have been in the shadows and now feel like they have a team to fight alongside.

While the world still digests the Semenya story in which the South African runner lost her appeal on testosterone ruling, a transgender woman has surfaced in the USA and made both local and international headlines by winning a national championship women’s race.

CeCe Telfer, who was born and raised as a man (Craig Telfer) and competed in men’s racing events in her first three years in college, won the women’s 400 m Hurdles national title at the 2019 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

She made light work of her opponents by winning the race in 57.53 seconds while the second best participant came in distant at 59.21 seconds.

Before joining the women’s category, Telfer was an ordinary athlete with no hope of making it anywhere on the big stage perhaps due to men’s superior capabilities.

In 2016 and 2017, she was languishing in lowly positions in the men’s 400 hurdles category but now sits at the summit. She is a national champion thanks to her switch of gender.

It remains to be seen whether or not the IAAF will crack their whip on her too.?