Swimmer Riley Gaines has targeted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after a transgender athlete set an unofficial world record in powerlifting.
Anne Andres, 40, who currently holds multiple powerlifting records in the women’s division, competed in the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s 2023 Western Canadian Championship.
She competed in the Female Masters Unfeatured category and lifted more than 200 kg than her closest opponent, SuJan Gill.
The total meant that Andres set a new Canadian women’s national record at the championship – which is also an unofficial women’s world record.
After the competition, Gaines denounced Trudeau’s policy that allowed the Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU) to adopt a trans-inclusion gender self-identification policy.
Swimmer Riley Gaines has targeted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after a transgender athlete set an unofficial world record in powerlifting
It means anyone who identifies themselves as a woman can join and don’t have to prove they’re going through gender-affirming care.
Gaines said in a video posted online, “Andres’s record is a mediocre lift by a mediocre male powerlifter because the Canadian Powerlifting Union discriminates against female athletes.”
Andres’ total powerlifting score was 597.5 kg (the total sum of heaviest weight lifted in squat, bench, and deadlift). This was more than 200 kg than her nearest competitor, SuJan Gill, at 387.5 kg.
She captioned the video “Justin Trudeau’s radical disregard for women (and reality) in fact,” with a clown emoji.
The ex-NCAA swimmer also took aim at Andres, who switched more than 20 years ago, for a video in which she appeared to mock her female competitors.
Andres posted a video last year questioning why the women’s bench is “so bad,” before saying that another powerlifter has “tiny little T-Rex arms.”
The footage also includes the powerlifter referring to herself as a “t****y freak,” so she “doesn’t count” in her “controversial opinion.”
She said, “Standard bench in a women’s powerlifting competition, I literally don’t understand why it’s so bad.
“My son, he weighs 45 pounds, his maximum bench is about 33 pounds. It’s legit that I see some women in competition doing a 50lb thing and I just don’t get it.
Anne Andres, 40, currently holds multiple powerlifting records in the women’s division, competed in the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s 2023 Western Canadian Championship
Competing in the Female Masters Unequipped category, she lifted more than 200 kg than her closest opponent, SuJan Gill
The ex-NCAA swimmer also took aim at Andres, who switched more than 20 years ago, for a video in which she appeared to mock her female competitors
“I don’t understand why so many women skip the couch and focus on everything else. That’s my controversial thing today. ‘
DailyMail.com did not immediately receive a response after reaching out to Andres for comment on the footage and the new record.
Gaines commented on the footage in her new video saying, “Let’s put it another way: Women’s couch can be bad for you because you’re a man who went through male puberty with a manly amount of testosterone.
“Being a woman or female athlete doesn’t mean we’re inferior or incapable of achieving incredible things, but it means we’re different from men.
‘That is precisely why the sports category for women was created. And we deserve to be recognized and celebrated based on those physical ceilings and our own uniqueness.”
The issue of allowing transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports has become increasingly controversial following a series of high-profile cases.
In 2022, transgender swimmer Lia Thomas divided the sports community after spending three years on the University of Pennsylvania men’s swim team.
Thomas – who is 6 feet 3 inches – came back for her senior year as a swimmer and started breaking records in the pool.
The issue of allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports has become increasingly controversial following a series of high-profile cases
Male powerlifting coach Avi Silverberg, who worked with Team Canada, entered a competition in protest of the CPU’s transgender policy.
She defeated Gaines, who has since become an outspoken advocate for protecting female spaces in sports.
Gaines not only objected to Thomas’s unfair advantage because she was born male, but also claimed that it made her uncomfortable in the locker room.
A Canadian competitive powerlifter told Piers Morgan Uncensored that she quit because Andres entered the competition.
She said, “It was very discouraging. For example, that national record he broke – athletes have been chasing that for years.
‘And we are talking about top athletes who have trained, trained and trained. It shows the advantages, the physiological advantages that a man has over a woman, whether it’s muscle mass, bone density, lung capacity. I could go on.
‘Many women dropped out yesterday because they knew Anne would be lifting. They fell, they stopped, they wrote to the federation, and the federation didn’t really do anything about it.’
Silverberg unofficially broke the record for the women’s category over 84 kilograms
Avi Silverberg claimed to be a woman in a powerlifting competition and broke the women’s bench press record in protest of the sport’s gender self-identification policy
Riley Gaines was defeated by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas at the NCAA Championships last year. Thomas competed as a male swimmer for three years before returning as a female and starting to break records in the pool
Andres posted her win on social media, saying she was supported by “friends who want me to be there,” despite claims athletes pulled out because she attended.
She said, “I turned 40 a week ago, so being Master 1 all of a sudden is kind of hollow. With that in mind, I got every masters record and two unofficial world masters records.
“I don’t care about records. I think it’s important to be there with my friends.’
Andres made headlines in March after male powerlifting coach Avi Silverberg, who worked with Team Canada, entered a competition in protest of the CPU’s transgender policy.
He identified himself as a woman and shattered the category of over 84 kilograms of which Andres is the record holder.
She was on hand to watch Silverberg break the bench press record at the “Heroes Classic,” and quickly responded by calling him a “coward and a bigot” with “malicious intent.”
The Trans Inclusion Policy, which was officially released in February, stated: ‘Based on this background and the available evidence, the Expert Working Group felt that trans athletes should be able to participate in the gender they identify with, regardless of whether they identify themselves or not. have undergone hormone therapy.’