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Laurel Hubbard has made Olympic history by becoming the first openly transgender athlete to compete at a Games in a different gender category to the one in which they were born. She failed to record a successful lift in the women's +87kg weightlifting, but the fact that she has competed is an important step for trans athletes.

Dr Joanna Harper from Loughborough University has advised the International Olympic Committee on transgender athletes, and explains how gender transitions alter athletic performance.

'After hormone therapy, in most sports, the field may not be entirely level but it's close enough that we can have meaningful competition'

Photo: Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand fails to lift 125kg in the Women's +87kg Weightlifting events of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Credit: EPA