A 35-time cyclocross champion said Wednesday that she retired after losing a podium place to a biological male competitor in a championship race.
“I was on form, did all the training right, been doing this for many years, so I’ve honed in the skills, but it was just not enough,” Hannah Arensman, who retired at the age of 25, told Fox News host Dana Perino. “It didn’t matter that Austin couldn’t ride a lot of the sections that were pretty technical. He could run a lot faster than most women and it turned out that power that day won over skill and power honed over many years.” (RELATED: ‘We Are Asking For The Bare Minimum’: Riley Gaines Blasts Biden Admin Over Title IX Rewrite)
Arensman finished fourth in the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in December behind Austin Killips and ahead of Jenna Lingwood, both of whom are biological males who identify as female, Fox News reported. Following the race, Arensman announced her retirement in an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court, Outkick reported, citing concerns over having to compete with male athletes.
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“I am 25 and there are definitely reasons why I walked away but it is never right to have to end your season that way, to end your season flanked on either side by two guys in the women’s field, the elite women’s field,” Arensman said. “I don’t want to see any other girls, young or my age or older have to go through that. It is important to get to race a fair sport.”
Arensman also cited pressure from sponsors and cycling organizations as impacting her decision. USA Cycling updated their code of conduct in 2022 to address potential protests against biological males competing in women’s sports.
“So in the sport of cycling, right now the media really wants to push guys racing in the women’s field and along with that, a lot of the sponsors feel or seem to feel that if you say anything against that, that you are hurting their brand,” Arensman continued. “So if you decide to speak out, you probably lose sponsorship and lose your spot on your team and you will get a lot of backlash on media. You might lose your job.”
“I know some people who would have loved to speak out but they were afraid to lose their job,” Arensman said.
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