A transgender female has taken an eighth world championship on Sunday during the 2023 women’s FIE Veteran Fencing World Championship.
Liz Kocab, a biological male, won the Vet Women’s Epee over Finland champion and biological female Marja-Liisa Someroja in Florida. This is the second time Kocab won in the 70+ age category.
Transgender female fencer scores world title over 14-time champion https://t.co/URbGPLomKt
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 17, 2023
2023 Daytona Beach🇺🇸 Veterans World Championships – Day5
Vet 70 Women's Individual Epee results:
🥇Elizabeth KOCAB🇺🇸
🥈Marja-Liisa Tuulikki SOMEROJA🇫🇮
🥉Ibolya HOFFMANN🇭🇺
🥉Charlotta BOWIE🇺🇸 #fencing #veterans #worldchampionships #epee
📷Serge Timacheff pic.twitter.com/1hRa9FKQS9— FIE (@FIE_fencing) October 16, 2023
“I wanted to support USA Fencing,” Kocab said after the bout, via USA Fencing. “I really did. Otherwise, I was actually thinking of stepping away. But the fact that it was in America, I thought that was important to support the USA. This is my way of saying thanks to USA Fencing.”
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“Within our divisions, USA Fencing will not discriminate on the basis of gender identity, regardless of sex assigned at birth, or any other form of gender expression for participation in any division,” the organization states on its website. “As such, athletes will be permitted to participate in USA Fencing sanctioned events in a manner consistent with their gender identity/ expression, regardless of the gender associated with the sex they were assigned at birth in accordance with the guidelines listed below.”
At the time of its vocal stance, USA Fencing CEO Phil Andrews stated how critical it was to “protect the rights of nonbinary and transgender athletes in fencing.”
“To be clear, even as this issue evolves, our support of transgender athletes will not waver,” Andrews added.
According to the organization, transgender athletes on testosterone suppression treatment for over a year would be able to compete with biological women.
It is unclear when Kocab transitioned but based on the photos we see of Kocab, “her” height and arm reach seem to pose a significant advantage over the competitors surrounding “her.”
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