The division over the participation of trans athletes in women’s competitions has had a controversial episode in Canada, where weightlifting coach Avi Silverberg decided to enter the women’s competition bench lift for over 84 kg and broke the class record. It happened at the Heroes Classic tournament in Lethbridge, Alberta, and it was a way of protesting the Canadian Weightlifting Federation’s gender self-determination rules.

The case was exposed by ICONS Women, a group that defends protected female categories in sport, which they posted on their Twitter account. the video of Silverberg’s participation, with a completely masculine beard, clothes and appearance.

Canadian rules of sport allow anyone who identifies as a woman to compete in the women’s category, whether or not they have undergone hormone therapy. While they don’t have to reveal any personal information, they do have to meet certain requirements during the weigh-in, which Silverberg had to flout.

Shapeslifted 167.5 kilos and broke the contest record by more than 20held by a trans weightlifter, Anne Andres, who was also present at the event and protested calling Silverberg “cowardly and intolerant” and denounced his malicious intent when registering.

In your complaint, Andres says she respects the rules to participate in women’s competitions: “I had surgery and I can demonstrate without a doubt that I have taken all the steps”, “I care about women in sport because I am a woman in sport”, she writes accompanied by a video.

According to ICONS, Anne Andres has won eight of the nine women’s category competitions she entered. The organization assures that the transsexual weightlifter fueled the controversy in the networks by publishing a video in January in which he claimed that he did not understand the differences in upper body strength between men and women.