John Steele, our Alor.org, man of steel, or maybe iron, was going to write this one, but his carrier pigeon which he sends from his bug out location in the Victorian scrub, where he lives in a tent, arrived without the article attached to its leg. No doubt the pigeon was sick of being abused, and treated like a bird. Anyway, I did not know what a bench press was, but after looking at YouTube, I am now beefed up on it, not that I could even lay on a bench with my arthritic back.
The story: to show the absurdity of the rule, that a biological man could identify as a woman without hormones or surgery, regarding a Canadian powerlifting contest, Team Canada’s power lifting coach, Avi Silverberg entered the contest as a woman, and easily broke the previous bench press record, held by transgender athlete, Anne Andres, who won eight of the last nine competitions she entered.
The rules are beyond absurd, as someone just playing at being trans could completely destroy women’s powerlifting, as least in this Canadian circuit. Normally there are requirements in powerlifting for the trans woman to at least have a certain hormone level of testosterone, but not here. Thus, women’s powerlifting bites the dust. J. K. Rowling is right, aright.
https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/avi-silverberg-sets-new-womens-bench
“Hats off to Avi Silverberg—Team Canada’s power lifting coach—for finding the courage to identify himself as a female in order to enter the Canadian women’s powerlifting division. To paraphrase George Gershwin’s 1926 American Songbook Classic, “Someone to Watch Over Me”:
Although he may not be
The girl some men think of as pretty
To my heart, she carries the key.
Call it a weakness for “strong women”—I just can’t resist Avi’s bold freshness in his approach to being feminine.
And my goodness, is he shattering the glass ceiling of Canadian women’s powerlifting. With ease he broke the previous bench press record, held by transgender athlete, Anne Andres, who won eight of the last nine competitions she entered.
Avi scarcely broke a sweat as he shattered the women’s record of 167.5 kilograms (369.3 pounds), set by Anne. To be sure, Anna admitted that her record in the women’s division wasn’t very impressive. As she once remarked:
I mean, standard bench in powerlifting competitions for women. I literally don’t understand why it is so bad.
In the so-called “Men’s Division” of powerlifting, top competitors are now benching between 500 to 600 kilograms (between 1,130 and 1,150 pounds) but who’s counting!
Congratulations Avi, for elevating the Visibility of transgender athletes.”
One of these giants who can bench press 500 kgs would end powerlifting in the bench press, and also squat and deadlift for women, forever.
https://fitnessvolt.com/male-powerlifter-avi-silverberg-new-womens-bench-press-record/