Canadian transgender cyclist defends her Masters title for second year

Canadian transgender cyclist, 37, defends her Masters Track Worlds title for the second year running

  • Rachel McKinnon, 37, won the gold medal in her 35-39 age category sprint at the Masters Track World Championships in Manchester on Saturday 
  • McKinnon, an assistant professor of philosophy, beat American Dawn Orwick for this year’s title 
  • She became the first transgender athlete to win the title at last year’s event in Los Angeles
  • Almost immediately after her win, McKinnon was forced to defend her title after becoming the target of social media trolls 

Canadian transgender cyclist Rachel McKinnon has defended her sprint title at the Masters Track Worlds for the second year running. 

The 37-year-old won the gold medal in the 35-39 age category sprint at the Masters Track World Championships in Manchester in the UK on Saturday. 

She became the first transgender athlete to win the title at last year’s event in Los Angeles. 

Canadian cyclist Rachel McKinnon (center) celebrates her gold medal on the podium with bronze medalist Kirsten Herup Sovang of Denmark and silver medalist Dawn Orwick (left) of the USA

McKinnon, an assistant professor of philosophy, beat American Dawn Orwick for this year’s title. 

She set a new master’s world record in the 200m time trial with a time of 11.649 seconds.

Almost immediately after her win, McKinnon was forced to defend her title after becoming the target of social media trolls because she is trans.

She issued a statement following her win that pointed out her new record was still behind several others set by athletes who were born biological females. 

McKinnon noted that her record in the 35-39 category is still behind the 40-44 age category record set by Carolien Van Herrikhuyzen and behind the 45-49 age age category of Gea Johnson.

McKinnon, an assistant professor of philosophy, set a new master's world record in the 200m time trial with a time of 11.649 seconds

McKinnon, an assistant professor of philosophy, set a new master’s world record in the 200m time trial with a time of 11.649 seconds

Almost immediately after her win, McKinnon was forced to defend her title after becoming the target of social media trolls because she is trans

Almost immediately after her win, McKinnon was forced to defend her title after becoming the target of social media trolls because she is trans

She issued a statement following her win that pointed out her new record was still behind several others set by athletes who were born biological females

She issued a statement following her win that pointed out her new record was still behind several others set by athletes who were born biological females

‘Rachel’s record is also nowhere near the 30-34 record by Tammy Thomas of 10.976, which has stooed since 2002,’ the statement said.

‘Rachel’s time is competitive at the elite level. However, to put it in perspective, at the 2016 Rio Olympics, this time would have qualified Dr McKinnon for 26th or 28.’

The statement went on to reference trans-phobia: ‘Dr McKinnon supports trans people’s rights to compete in their legally recognized gender. Fairness in sport means inclusion and respect of every athlete’s rights and identity.’

McKinnon went on to publicly call out people who targeted her on social media and via email following her latest win. 

She was forced to defend a gold medal win last week after one of her fellow competitors said it was unfair that she was allowed to compete against cisgender female athletes. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk