8 Dec 2017

Laurel Hubbard: I have to block out the criticism

From Checkpoint, 5:21 pm on 8 December 2017

Trans weight lifter Laurel Hubbard says she has tried not to let the criticism over her success at the World Weightlifting Championships affect her focus.

Watch John Campbell conversation with with Laurel Hubbard:

This week she became the first New Zealander to win two silver medals at the championships in California, prompting criticism from fellow competitors and online abuse.

"As an athlete all I can really do is to block that out," Hubbard told Checkpoint with John Campbell.

"Because if I try and take that weight on board it just makes the lifts harder.

"So all I can really do is just focus and lift."

She said she isn't trying to change the world, she just wants to be herself.

Hubbard said her critics may not understand she is competing under rules that have been in place for 14 years, and she completely satisfies all the requirements.