- Kae Luci Ravichandran placed first at the Upstate Classic near Albany on Monday but complained about 'embarrassingly slow' performance
- Her comments were blasted by former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines
- Ravichandran defended her comments, saying she has become “much slower” since starting estrogen
A trans medical student is being criticized for complaining of being “slow” and “out of shape” after winning the women's half-marathon race in upstate New York.
Kae Luci Ravichandran called her one-hour, 24-minute finish at The Upstate Classic near Albany “embarrassingly slow.”
The Larner College student took first place, leaving runner-up Amanda Aussems six minutes ahead of first place.
But despite the win, Ravichandran was derogatory about her own performance on Sunday.
'Embarrassingly slow, gave up after mile 5 because my tendon gave out. Very out of shape. I'll take the (win) tho(ugh),” she said.
Trans runner Kae Luci Ravichandran called her performance at the New York State half marathon 'embarrassingly slow' despite taking first place in the women's race
Ravichandran finished in a time of one hour and 24 minutes, but said she “gave up after kilometer five” due to a tendon injury
She beat her closest competitor Amanda Aussems by six minutes and finished fourth in the race at Albany
Her comments angered former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, who regularly speaks out against trans athletes participating in sports.
“Male runner Kae Ravichandran won the women's category by six minutes at the Upstate Classic Half Marathon,” she said.
'The real winner among the ladies was Amanda Aussems with a time of 1:30.39. Congratulations to her and the other female runners.”
Ravichandran took to her Instagram Story to respond to Gaines: Fox news reports.
'This is so stupid, I ran a 71 minute pre-estrogen half marathon less than two weeks after a marathon.
'I ran 84 minutes for this completely fresh half. I have slowed down a lot – about 18%, my body is now physiologically a woman's body.
'Yet they still don't want me to participate. It's clear that they just don't want trans people in sports in general, and they don't really care about biology.
“I have to remind myself that these people have nothing better to do with their lives and are spending all their energy on bigots.
I also have to stop opening things when I get tagged, but the morbid curiosity takes over me sometimes. Oh well. Just feel like s***'.
Ravichandran ran the race in an average of 6.28 minutes per mile, placing first in the women's division and fourth overall.
She previously won the first non-binary division at the Boston Marathon.