At 8:15 p.m. Paris time (2:15 p.m. EDT) on Saturday night, 12 athletes approach the waterfall starting line for the women’s 1,500-meter final at the Summer Olympics.
The race will feature Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, the world record holder in the event, looking to cap off a dominating year in which she won Olympic gold, while Britain’s Laura Muir will be looking to take the next step up after winning silver in the 1500m in Tokyo three years ago.
Jessica Hull of Australia has been one of the fastest swimmers in the world this year. Dilib Weltegee of Ethiopia won silver behind Kipyegon at last year’s World Championships. Her teammate Gudaf Tsegay has made two finals this year but has only managed to come ninth and sixth. This is her final chance to win a medal.
At the center of it all are two Americans trying to continue Team USA’s long-distance running revival.
Get off the sidelines and get in the game
Our weekly newsletter is packed with information on everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues.
St-Pierre reached the Olympic flying final in Tokyo in 2021, finishing in 10th place.
Nikki Hiltz, who only recently came out, was watching the Tokyo final and was disappointed that they didn’t make it. Three years of struggle, change and excellence had brought them to this moment. To borrow a popular phrase, there’s no doubt Hiltz knows her mission.
Related
To say they were successful is an understatement, especially for those who have followed their journey. I came out as transgender and non-binary on Transgender Visibility Day 2021.He was pushed back off the start and finished last in the 1,500-meter final at the U.S. Olympic Trials three months later.
A new coaching arrangement and renewed focus came in 2022. Since January 2023, Hiltz has continued to perform well, winning five USA Track & Field Championships and a silver medal in the 1,500 meters at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships. Set an American record in the mileand broke the U.S. Olympic Trials record in the race that led to Paris.
They are also unafraid to speak up in other important areas.
“I feel like I have a superpower because I’m queer.”
While 2021 was their coming out year, the 2023 race could be said to be their moment of stepping into their status as a sports touchstone for LGBTQ people.
April 2023, Hiltz competed in the USATF Road 1 Mile Championship in Des Moines, Iowa. They had won in 2019 and were in a fierce battle for a second championship.
The difference was that they were there in full force, emboldened during the ferocious final stretch drive to victory by fans waving Pride flags along the course, each flag waving a defiant cry of support.
“I’m confident that the course yesterday, especially the amount of Pride flags I saw towards the end, gave me enough gear to take the win with about 50 metres to go.” Hiltz wrote on his Instagram page.
Victory comes one month later Iowa lawmakers pass anti-trans bill Overcoming fierce debate and opposition.
Hiltz didn’t shy away from using her podium win as a platform: “Transgender people live in Iowa and deserve access to health care and sports.” “It was a great race,” Hiltz told Citius Magazine after the race. “It means even more when you’re in a state with so many hateful laws.”
“To me, queer people in this community are so grateful that I’m here,” they continued. “I’m so grateful to them. They’re the ones who are here, who are living here, who are fighting back.”
A week later, they won the 1500 meters at the Drake Relays. That summer, the first outdoor national championshipsHiltz continued to seize opportunities to speak out, even before she rose to the top of the world athletics rankings and after more than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills were piled up across the country.
The rainbow necklaces, wrist charms and Trans flag pins that light up during races have become as much a trademark of Hiltz’s as her racing sense, her finishing kick and her megawatt smile as she crosses the finish line. Their presence on the elite stage and lending their voice to the fight is seen as another force to rally behind the cause during these trying times.
“Trans and non-binary athletes are already accomplishing a great deal just by competing, but having Nikki on the world stage means a lot,” Cal Calamia, the 2023 New York Marathon non-binary division champion, told OutSports. “Any visibility in the sports world improves representation at all distances and levels, and makes me feel hopeful for the future of trans athletes.”
For Hiltz, their performance and presence was born of discovering and expressing who they were.
“I feel like I have a superpower because I’m queer.” “It’s a big deal,” Hiltz said in an interview with Axios after the race on Thursday. “I know I am loved and supported, so I am free to run, no matter what the outcome is.”
Hiltz didn’t just run freely in the 1500m in Paris, she ran tough and smart. She earned a day of rest in the first round, which put her in a good position to qualify and avoid the repechage. She held her own in the semifinals, coming in strong and composed for the final.
Their strength and poise stood in stark contrast to the frenzied gender hysteria that will likely be the legacy of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Focus on Awards and History
The Hiltz event came at a time when the furor surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Kherif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yutong was dominating the news, dwarfing the level of coverage that weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was receiving. Three years ago, she became the first transgender woman to compete in the Olympics.In this case, both boxers Cisgender womenEach allegedly failed gender verification tests conducted by the now discredited International Boxing Association.
The case continues even though Khelif won gold on Friday and Lin is gunning for gold on Saturday. Never mind the fact that transgender women will be banned from competing in the women’s events in five Olympic sports after the Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s unbelievable that even after barring the majority of transgender athletes from the Olympics, the world still finds a way to bring in transphobia and use it against cisgender people,” Calamia said of the issue.
Hilts has also been the target of vitriol from the willfully ignorant, some of whom have accused him of being a “cheating biological male” or worse. Despite being a well-publicized story for three years, Hilts’ success continues to be fraught with backlash.
They respond to transphobia with a calm attitude, spreading support and joy to their ever-growing fanbase, and Hilts responds by performing the song with a toothy grin and great fun.
In a thread post on Friday, Hiltz wrote, “Tomorrow we dream,” concluding his message with gratitude and recognition for what is to come, along with the dreams of LGBTQ Nation.
But there is something beautiful and real about dreams: Nikki Hiltz has already won by simply showing up, and they have earned their golden opportunity to show up.
Source: Outsports – www.outsports.com
