A transgender runner who defeated over 14,000 women in the female category of the London Marathon has claimed he is “not a woman” and has offered to return the medal he got for his efforts.
Glenique Frank, a man who identifies as a woman who ran the NYC Marathon as a man last year, took advantage of a loophole in Athletics UK’s new regulations that prohibit biological males who have reached puberty from competing in women’s races to run the London Marathon.
However, as the Telegraph notes, that run time would have placed Frank at the comparatively lowly 15,386th place had he been competing in the men’s category.
After giving an interview in which he appeared in a sports bra complete with a rainbow flag, Frank announced that he would soon be a “granny.”
However, the real effect of the interview was to capture the attention of two-time British Olympian Mara Yamauchi, who quickly blasted Frank for competing in a category in which he had no business competing.
“If they want me to give my medal back, I’ll say, ‘OK, fine. No problem,’” Fran told the New York Post.
“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.
“But I don’t want to apologize, because I didn’t do anything wrong,” Frank stated firmly — saying she was only sorry for “upsetting” her critics, who she maintained were mostly “haters.”
“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,” noted Frank, who came in 6,159th place in the female category.
“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 54-year-old trans racer, who went under the alias “Frank,” finished the race in four hours, eleven minutes, and 28 seconds. That time was good enough for 6,160th place out of 20,123 female competitors.