Transgender and nonbinary runner Nikki Hiltz has heard it all.
Ahead of their Olympic debut in Paris, Hiltz, who uses the pronouns they/them, responded to accusations that they abuse the system by identifying as trans and non-binary, but competing against women.
“I just know my truth and that’s enough for me sometimes. I know that I’m not taking any HRT, I’m not on hormone replacement therapy. I’m not on testosterone,” Hiltz, 29, said during the latest installment of the “Good Game with Sarah Spain” podcast. “I know that I’m doing it fairly, I’m following the rules, whatever you want to call it and I think that’s enough for me.
“Nothing that anyone can say is new. I’ve heard it all. I’ve seen it all. Nothing’s going to catch me by surprise anymore. I have a really good support system around me. My partner, my coaches, my training partners, my therapist, my family. It’s a pretty small team, but it’s my people and I know that nothing is going to penetrate that.”
Hiltz, who was assigned female sex at birth, has always competed in the female category, while using the pronouns they/them.
Nonbinary is an identity that describes people who don’t identify as male or female.
The American middle-distance runner qualified for the U.S. Olympic team after winning the women’s 1,500-meter race with a final time of 3:55.33 in Eugene, Ore. last month — which broke Elle St. Pierre’s U.S. trials record of 3:58.03, set in 2021.
Hiltz has become a role model for the queer community and dedicated their Olympic trials win to LGBTQ+ community.
They celebrated at the finish line with their girlfriend, fellow track and field runner Emma Gee — who was the first out LGBTQ student-athlete at Brigham Young University.
After their Olympics qualifier, Hiltz responded to someone on social media who said they “are a mediocre man stealing a woman’s place on the Olympic team” in Paris.
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Hiltz told the critic to “go touch some grass and then type into Google ‘what does nonbinary mean?'”
There are more than 150 out LGBTQ+ athletes reported to be participating at the 2024 Paris Olympics, per Outsports.com.
Most events at the Olympics are categorized and split into women’s and men’s.
Many have debated what is deemed as fair in sports when it comes to binary sex and gender identity, as many critics of inclusivity have argued about potential unfairness.
Most competitive individual and team events are also organized around binary sex and gender categories.
In 2004, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) first allowed transgender individuals to compete in the games under certain requirements, including reassignment surgery, followed by at least two years of hormone therapy in order to be eligible to compete.
The IOC relaxed the conditions for trans athletes and removed the surgery requirement in 2016.
However, male-to-female transgender athletes will need to demonstrate that their testosterone level has been below a certain cutoff point for at least one year before their first competition.
In an update to its policy in 2021, the IOC said each sport’s governing body would “determine how an athlete may be at a disproportionate advantage against their peers, taking into consideration the nature of each sport.”
Hiltlz will make their Olympic debut when the track and field athletics events begin on Aug. 2.
