Transgender Cyclist Emily Bridges to Compete in First Women’s Race Against Gold Medalist Laura Kenny

Emily Bridges will compete against British cyclist Laura Kenny, pictured above. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

Transgender cyclist Emily Bridges set to compete in a women’s race for the first time this weekend, going up against, as The Times put it, the most decorated female Olympian in Britain’s history.

Bridges, who has been compared to trans swimmer Lia Thomas, will make her debut Saturday at the National Omnium Championships at the Derby Arena Velodrome against Dame Laura Kenny and other Olympic competition.

Bridges, who started testosterone suppression treatments a year ago, will now compete in the women’s category, weeks after winning the gold in the Men’s point race at the British Universities’ Championships.

“After starting hormone therapy, I didn’t want to race in the male category any more than I had to,” she told Cycling Weekly magazine in early March.

A point race is a mass start track cycling event which spans over 40 km for men and 25 km for women accumulating in the most sprints of ten laps won as the winner of the race.

Unlike Thomas, Bridges faces a shorter gap between the two categories of competition. The cyclist looks to advance past this weekend’s events and fast-track her spot in Team Great Britain’s cycling program to hopefully compete in the 2024 Olympics.

While some in sports world are thrilled for Bridges, others have expressed concern with her competing in women’s races, including former Olympian swimmer Sharron Davies.

“British Cycling ought to be ashamed of themselves,” Davies told the Daily Mail. “I have had quite a few of the girls very distressed on the phone. They are frustrated and disappointed. They are all for inclusion but not at the loss of fairness and opportunities for biological females. I can’t see how this isn’t sexual discrimination in the tallest order. Reducing testosterone does not mitigate male puberty advantage.”

Some journalists also took issue with the upcoming competition.

Emily Bridges: “It sucks, racing as a man when you’re not one.”

It must suck a lot more to have to race against a man when you’re not one.https://t.co/Jrs8sDptjf

— Debbie Hayton 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 (@DebbieHayton) March 29, 2022

Trans cyclist Emily bridges will now take part in the female events despite being born a male, Before coming out as trans, Ms Bridges set the Junior Men’s national record for 25 miles in 2018 – two minutes faster than the current national record for adult women.

This is a joke.

— Sophie Corcoran (@sophielouisecc) March 27, 2022

Regardless, Bridges is set to compete this weekend. If she meets the necessary testosterone levels, there’s not much British Cycling can do about it.