Awkward photo shows female cyclist take third place on podium after being beaten in by trans rider
A female cyclist was pictured on stage feeling upset after losing a race in Pennsylvania to a transgender competitor.
Jacqueline Paull, 58, appeared dejected after being beaten by race winner Tara Seplavy, 48, in the Emrick Blvd Crit on May 5.
Seplavy, deputy editor of Bicycling Magazine, beat Paull by about 12 seconds in the competition, while beating second-place finisher Maya Brothers, 15, by six.
The Brothers coach told DailyMail.com that she didn’t begrudge the loss of Seplavy and that it made her want to train harder.
And while Paull reacted indifferently to her third-place finish, this was replaced by a beaming smile when she was photographed in a separate photo atop the empty stage without her transgender rival.
Paull did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Tara Seplavy, center, pictured atop the podium after winning a Pennsylvania bike race. Maya Brothers, who came in second, didn’t mind losing to a trans woman. But competitor Jaqueline Paull in third, right, seems to have been miffed
Paull was photographed posing atop the winner’s spot on the podium, suggesting her displeasure at Sepalvy’s loss
Seplavy’s win comes four years after she previously complained about struggling to compete with biological women.
The journalist claimed in an interview with Out Sports that she “has never been a super-gifted athlete” and that the transition from male to female “would actually detract from athletic performance.”
Cycling is at the epicenter of debates about the unfair advantage transgender women have in women’s sports.
Controversies include former champion rider Hannah Arensmen who recently retired from the sport after losing a podium finish to a transgender rival.
Seplavy reportedly transitioned to female in 2016. She says she has been cycling competitively for over 25 years and continued to cycle after transition.
The 48-year-old claims on her website to be “dedicated to breaking barriers” and said she has worked with some of cycling’s most influential brands.
Despite facing backlash over her position in the sport, she claimed to have no edge over her female competitors, even arguing that her transition from male to female may have made the sport more difficult for her.
“I busted my ass,” she said. “I train many hours a week, try to eat reasonably and do the things that athletes do. I’ve just never been a super gifted athlete in my life.
“I sometimes get on the podium in local masters races when the weather conditions are good and no one else shows up…I race a lot of bikes and I suck.”
“As my coach said, I am against doping. I put chemicals in my body that actually detract from athletic performance.
“I went from a mediocre dude on a bicycle to a mediocre woman on a bicycle,” Seplavy continued. “It’s not like I just changed my gender and my times stayed the same.” I have to work so much harder for marginal gain.’
But her recent dominance has drawn backlash, with many claiming she has an unfair physical advantage over biological women.
Seplavy’s victory over an up-and-coming teen rider drew particular attention, with one person posting the podium image online claiming that it has become a “rite of passage for a junior girl to be beaten by a 40-something” transgender athlete.
“This is just embarrassing,” added another.
The image was widely circulated online, in part due to the reaction of her third-place rival, who appeared disgruntled next to her on stage.
“This looks like a protest stance,” said one commenter, while another agreed that the victory “could even discourage girls from training for competitions.”
Ms. Seplavy has been contacted for comment by DailyMail.com.
The 48-year-old has previously claimed that the transition from male to female may have detracted from her cycling performance
Her victory comes amid increased awareness about the issue of transgender victories in women’s cycling.
In March, controversial rider Tiffany Thomas won first place in a contest in New York City despite only starting the sport in 2018.
The 46-year-old quickly found success, including a place on a top cycling team where her oldest teammate is only 32.
The recent surge in transgender athletes in women’s cycling also led former champion cyclist Hannah Arensman to recently retire from the sport after missing out on a podium finish to a trans cyclist.
“In my last race at the recent UCI Cyclocross National Championships in the elite women’s category, I came in fourth, flanked on either side by male riders who were third and fifth,” she said in her farewell announcement.
“My sister and family sobbed when they saw a man finish ahead of me, after seeing several physical interactions with him during the race.”
Tiffany Thomas, center, took first place at the Randall’s Island Crit bike race in New York City in March
The 46-year-old is one of many transgender athletes facing criticism from those who claim they have an unfair advantage in women’s sports
Champion rider Hannah Arensmen, left, has retired from the sport after being beaten by trans athletes
While advocates for the inclusion of trans athletes in women’s sports insist that fairness can be maintained, opponents argue that the physical advantage they have over biological women cannot be reversed.
Several states have sought to ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports, citing studies showing they retain an unfair physical advantage even after transition.
In 2019, Cece Telfer became the first openly trans woman to win an NCAA title when she finished first in the 400-meter hurdles at the Division II National Championships.
The following year, Laurel Hubbard, of New Zealand, became the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Olympics when she competed in weightlifting at the Tokyo Games.
The issue generated controversy for several years before coming under the national spotlight in March 2022, when trans swimmer Lia Thomas became an NCAA champion.
In particular, trans figurehead Caitlyn Jenner, who won gold in the men’s decathlon at the 1976 Olympics before becoming one of the world’s best-known trans women, has dismissed Thomas’s success as an “abomination to what sport represents and the spirit of competition’.
Lia Thomas (left) was thrust into the spotlight when she became the top female college swimmer at the NCAA Championships in March 2022
Cece Telfer became the first openly trans woman to win an NCAA title when she finished first in the 400-meter hurdles at the Division II National Championships in 2019 (pictured)
Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender woman to compete in the 2020 Olympics
Tommy Lundberg, a lecturer in physiology at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and a leading researcher in the field, told DailyMail.com in March, “The important thing is whether or not you have benefited from male development and male puberty and whether you have. , you get benefits that you can’t undo later.’
This view was also shared by Nancy Hogshead, a former professional swimmer who won three gold and one silver medal in the 1984 Olympics, who told DailyMail.com, “Trans women have an undeniable physical advantage.
“Their bodies do what male bodies do when they go through puberty and that’s why we separate sports all over the world.
“Unless we’re talking about just playing, just recreational sports. All competitive sports are segregated by gender.’