A trans man who ran in the women's category of the London Marathon and beat more than 14,000 women offered to return the medal he received after acknowledging that he is "not a woman."
Glenique Frank is a 54-year-old runner who took advantage of a loophole in Athletics UK's new transgender rules and participated in the women's category of the London sporting event.
However, after his participation sparked controversy, Frank acknowledged that he is not a woman and assured organizers that he was willing to return his recognition award. "If they want me to give my medal back, I'll say, 'OK, fine. No problem '(...)I get it … I'm not a woman," he said.
Frank explained that the intake form allowed him to select between "female," "male" or "other" and that he chose the first option because that is how he feels. But he stated that next year he would enter as "male" or "other," "just to keep everyone happy," he said.
Trans marathoner Glenique Frank offers to give back medal after beating 14K in female category https://t.co/Ogun99u7YZ pic.twitter.com/c6EAv7Fvmj
— New York Post (@nypost) April 26, 2023
London was the first marathon he competed in as a woman
By Frank's own account, London was the first of the 17 planned marathons in which he could choose his gender. Just a month earlier, he had competed in Tokyo as a man and in November, he also competed as a man in New York.
UK Athletics rules change
The organizers of the London Marathon decided to change the rules at the end of March and stick to those used by World Athletics. This implied that men who had gone through male puberty were prohibited from participating in elite women's competitions. This time, however, those who had already entered the races were allowed to compete regardless of whether the category did not correspond to their biological sex.
