A transgender weightlifter is receiving backlash after racking up multiple wins during the 100% Raw Weightlifting Federation competition in Virginia over the weekend.
Mary Gregory, an American powerlifter and strength coach, took to Instagram on Sunday to announce she had gone "9 for 9" at the competition and broken four women's world records: Masters world squat record, open world bench record, Masters world deadlift record and Masters world total record.
"Still processing, full meet recap to come a bit later," she wrote, before thanking those who made her feat possible, including the competition's organizers.
"A huge thank you to @raw_powerlifting_federation_ , from the bottom of my heart!" Gregory said. "As a transgender lifter I was unsure what to expect going into this meet and everyone- all the spotters, loaders, referees, staff, meet director, all made me welcome and treated me as just another female lifter- thank you!"
However, despite her own enthusiasm, Gregory's win seems to have angered a few other athletes, including former British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies and British track Olympian Kelly Holmes.
Davies took to Twitter to express her disdain over Gregory competing as a woman, writing, "This is a trans woman a male body with male physiology setting a world record & winning a woman’s event in America in powerlifting. A woman with female biology cannot compete. It’s a pointless unfair playing field."
Piggybacking on Davies' sentiment, Holmes chimed in, writing Gregory's record-setting was "a bloody joke" and that biological women may start to "boycott certain events."
