In these oh-so-woke times, why risk losing as a male powerlifter when other options are available?
Anne Andres, a biological male who identifies as a "woman" set a women’s national powerlifting record while obliterating his female competitors at the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s 2023 Western Canadian Championship in Brandon, Manitoba on Aug. 13.
Andres reportedly set both a Canadian women’s national record and an unofficial women’s world powerlifting record.
Andres, 40, now holds records in the female division in deadlift and bench press and has won nine out of the eleven women's competitions he has participated in over the past four years.
Andres dominated the event, leaving biological females Michelle Kymanick and SuJan Gil far behind in second and third place in the Female Masters Unequipped category. Andres, at 6’2, had the second highest deadlift in women’s weightlifting history.
According to advance results obtained by Reduxx, the total powerlifting score for Andres at the event was over 200kg more than the top-performing female in the same class – 597.5kg versus SuJan Gil’s 387.5kg total. A “total” is the sum of the heaviest weight lifted for the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
April Hutchinson, a Canadian female powerlifter who said she will no longer compete at events with Andres, said: “Those records will never, ever be broken by a biological female.”
Andres’ total even would have placed him amongst the top-performing male powerlifters in the same championship had he participated in the men’s category, Reduxx noted.
The Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU), under which the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s 2023 Western Canadian Championship was held, announced a gender self-identification policy earlier this year. The policy allows any males to participate in women’s competitions on the basis of self-declared “gender” alone.
In February, the CPU’s “Trans Inclusion Policy” was released, containing an explicit statement that the CPU supported allowing transgender powerlifters to participate in the sex category of their choosing based on a guidance from the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES).
“Based on this background and available evidence, the Expert Working Group felt that trans athletes should be able to participate in the gender with which they identify, regardless of whether or not they have undergone hormone therapy,” the policy states, deferring to the “inclusivity in sport” guidance from the CCES.
"This wasn’t a policy to protect women. Anyone could walk in, say they’re a female, crush some records, then walk out and say they’re a man again. It’s pretty sad," Hutchinson said. "People don’t even have to declare their gender. One woman on the podium had no idea Ann was a man. There’s no hormone therapy or testing. I know Ann was born a man because I was friends with him a while ago. We would talk on Facebook. I told him ‘you should not be in women’s sports’, since then he blocked me and deleted me."
Just prior to the CPU’s announcement of a gender self-identification policy, Andres had shared a video of himself appearing to mock female athletes, asking why female powerlifters were “so bad” at bench press.
Anne Andres (male who identifies and competes as a woman) doesn't understand why female powerlifters are so "bad" at bench press....well idk Anne, but maybe it's because you have 20 times more testosterone than them. Just a thought.... pic.twitter.com/klxd4WaoYc
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) February 17, 2023
Free Press International
[Freedom Is Not Free!]
