Janet Furman Bowman, Woman and Athlete
“You run like a girl” often implies that the person running (be they girl or boy) runs a little less then optimally shall we say. Such a term would never be implied to such amazing athletes as Joan Benoit, Grete Waitz, Paula Radcliffe, Svetlana Masterkova, or Rita Jeptoo. Of course if you ran like any of the women I just listed you’d want to run like a girl!
But what if you had a chance to run as a boy and then as a girl? Does gender matter in athletics for performance? Without going into the science behind it one woman knows both, as Runner’s World wrote in this excellent article on Janet’s Furman’s life, her transition, and her being an athlete:
Ever wonder how much faster (or slower) you’d run if you were the opposite sex? Janet Furman Bowman may be the only runner in America who knows.
You can read Janet’s incredible story at this Runner’s World article by clicking to it HERE.
(picture courtesy of M_M_Mnemonic and used under Creative Commons License)
Male to female trans women don’t get to keep their male physical abilites. The physical loss in ability is about 30%. I know this from personal experince. Hormone therapy affects mind and emotions more than the physical changes. There is a film about Canadian pro bike racer Michelle Dumaresq which tell the story of her life as a trans woman pro biker racer.
http://www.100percentwoman.com/
Bernice
Hi Bernice,
Thanks for your comment and the great link. I didn’t realize that there was as much as a 30% reduction in physical ability as a result of HRT for MtF’s. The link to that site is terrific, what a great story and an inspiring one as well.
Becki