Austin Killips and the madness of biological men competing against women

When will sporting governing bodies see the reality that we all know to be true — that male bodies have an advantage over female bodies? Granted, many organizations have seen the light and taken action, but others remain in some sort of cloud cuckoo land where trans women — biological males — are allowed to compete against biological females.  

The latest outrage has happened in the United States. Austin Killips, a twenty-seven-year-old transgender cyclist won first prize for women at the Tour of the Gila, the premier road race in New Mexico. Killips is now being tipped to challenge for a place at the Tour de France Femmes and at the Paris Olympics next summer. 

This is wrong. Sports are divided into female and male categories for a reason, and it is not to affirm anyone’s identity. I’ve said this before: women’s sports are not for males who cannot cut it against their own sex. Killips may well have lost some competitive advantage after undergoing hormone therapy, but that does not mitigate the differences between the sexes.

Clear rules — based on biological sex — should apply throughout sport from the grassroots to the Olympics. My time for a 5k park run will never set any records, even in the 50+ age group, but I still won’t participate against women — it would be wrong for me to push just one woman down the rankings in her category. 

But it’s even worse when it comes to competitive sports that have prize money. Reports suggest that Killips earned tens of thousands of dollars for finishing top of the women’s general classification in the Tour of the Gila, plus a bonus as “Queen of the Mountains.” Money earmarked for women has been taken by the other sex. This year, for the first time, the Tour of the Gila offered equal prize money for the men and women’s races. The fact that biological males have won both pots makes a mockery of this worthy move. 

The impact all this is having on girls cannot be underestimated. Why bother training hard — possibly for years on end — when biological males will just come along and take the medals? Killips only took up cycling in 2019. Sport will struggle to remain attractive to girls if they know they will be forced to give way to competitors who are stronger and faster and post better times in most disciplines simply because they are male. 

No doubt arguments will continue over hormone levels and the effect this has on performance, but this misses the point. Sports are for all but they are divided into sex-based categories for the same reason that they are divided into age-based categories: to ensure fair competition between people with different bodies. 

We would not allow a grown adult to compete with under-elevens because they chose to identify as a pre-pubescent child. Neither should we allow males to compete against women when they take on a transgender identity. It’s not fair, and it may well be dangerous. This madness has now gone on for far too long. Women and children are the principal victims, but it is also bringing transgender rights — my rights — into disrepute. It needs to stop, and the world needs to return to reality.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.