All Stories

It's 2021 so the sportswoman of the year is a) a total failure and b) not a woman

Tom Winnifrith
Saturday 2 October 2021

I am coming to the conclusion that in this increasingly crazy world, New Zealand is the largest open air asylum on this planet. For this week, the University of Otago on South Island has named as its sportswoman of the year Laurel Hubbard. Remember her?


She should not win because she was until a few years ago a man called Gavin and thus has a huge natural advantage over female born weightlifters with whom she competes. More importantly, when competing at the Olympics she came last after failing to complete even one successful lift. At least Eddie the Eagle completed a jump or two.  So he competed but came last. Laurel just failed. She did not really compete at all. Surely the sportswoman of the year should be a winner, of which New Zealand has many, not a total loser?


Sport is about winning and losing and sporting awards should surely recognize that. Most of us regard Ms Hubbard as a cheat in that she should not be competing against those who have always been women. But surely we can all agree that she is a loser in sporting terms and that should not make you sportswoman of the year. The point of sport is not to be applauded for coming last and failing completely.

If you enjoyed reading this article from Tom Winnifrith, why not help us cover our running costs with a donation?
About Tom Winnifrith
Bio
Tom Winnifrith is the editor of TomWinnifrith.com. When he is not harvesting olives in Greece, he is (planning to) raise goats in Wales.
Twitter
@TomWinnifrith
Email
[email protected]
Recently Featured on ShareProphets
Sign up for my weekly newsletter








Required Reading

Recent Comments


I also read