Transgender athlete Glenique Frank has offered to return her London Marathon finisher’s medal after she sparked outrage for competing in the female category.
Glenique Frank finished the prestigious race ahead of nearly 14,000 women in the female category, sparking questions as to how she was allowed to compete in the first place.
Olympian marathon runner Mara Yamauchi publicly blasted the rules that allowed Frank to compete in the women’s category.
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In response, Frank says she will return her finisher’s medal if it appeases those who took issue with her competing.
She told the New York Post: “If they want me to give my medal back, I’ll say, ‘OK, fine. No problem.
“If they really think I’ve stolen the place [of a female runner], I don’t mind giving the medal back, because I’ll run again next year for charity.
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“But I don’t want to apologise, because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
She maintained those who had an issue with her racing were ‘haters’.
She continued: “They’re angry because they’re saying that one of 14,000 women behind me could have had my place. Really? I did [the race in] 4 hours 11 minutes. There’s lots of women that beat me.”
Frank came in 6,159th place in the female category.
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She added: “I get it … I’m not a woman, I don’t have a womb.
“But I didn’t compete as an elite, so I didn’t steal any money.”
The personal trainer says she plans to pay around $20,000 to have ‘top and bottom surgery’ next year, and that she was just trying to ‘spread joy and happiness’.
What seemed to anger people online the most was the fact she boasted about using 'girl power' to get through the gruelling 26.2-mile course.
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Speaking to the BBC as she crossed Tower Bridge, Franks told the reporter: "I've just done Tokyo, I did New York last year. Next year, I'll do number six a week before London.
"So a week's rest but… girl power! I've also run in the Comrades Marathon in South Africa, where I'm from. Shout out to my beautiful son, who's having a baby, so I'm going to be a granny... Granny G!"
One of the people leading the chorus of frustrations was ex-Olympic runner Mara Yamauchi.
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“This male ran in yesterday’s London Marathon as Glenique Frank in the female category (Mass race) finishing in 6160th place out of 20,123.” Yamauchi tweeted in the wake of the race.
“So nearly 14,000 actual females suffered a worse finish position because of him.
“Last month, he ran in the Tokyo Marathon, as Glen Frank, also.”
She added: "Since 31 March, @WorldAthletics & @BritAthletics have banned post-puberty males from the F category. Under UKA transitional arrangements, males who had already entered races in the F category could still race. I assume this is how Frank was allowed to race yesterday. Nevertheless, males in the female category is UNFAIR for females."
Topics: Athletics
Jayden Collins