Athletics: Hiltz wins the US Trials, a transgender woman goes to the World Cup

She will be the first openly transgender athlete to represent the United States at a World Cup. Nikki Hiltz wins the 1500m of the Eugene Trials with a great sprint (4’03″10), conquers the national outdoor title after the indoor one this winter and, together, the pass for the world championship in Budapest (19 -27 August). For the 28-year-old Californian it will not be the first participation in the event: she reached the final in Doha lei 2019, where, however, she did no better than 12th place. But then the truth about her was still hidden.

A symbol

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It would have gone public with a post that appeared on her Instagram profile on March 31 two years later (in 2021), on the international day of transgender visibility. “I do not identify with the gender that was assigned to me at birth – wrote Nikki -: the term I use to describe it correctly is non-binary. And the best adjective that can be used to explain it is fluid”. And she added: “Telling all this is as exciting as it is difficult, but I will always be convinced that vulnerability and perceptibility are essential to stimulate the idea of ​​inclusion and real social change. So here I am: ready to come out of my shell to finally be myself”. Nikki has since become a symbol of the entire LGBTQ community and that of professional athletes and runners in particular. Thanks also to a race, called “Pride 5k” conceived and organized together with his partner, during the days of the lockdown in March 2020. At first remotely, with a remote contest, which gathered around 4000 participants, four of whom, via a podcast run by Hiltz herself, took the opportunity to come out as queer. Then, traditionally in presence, in Flagstaff, Arizona. The race, now in its third year, also serves as a fundraiser for The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization that provides 24/7 counseling to LGBTQ youth.

Athletics

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Nikki, always a valuable middle distance runner, finished high school in her Aptos, a town not far from San Jose and, therefore, from San Francisco, won a scholarship at the University of Oregon, would soon move to Arkansas. She with whom, in 2017 and 2018, she would have won the NCAA title in the 1500. She turned professional, in 2019, she conquered the call-up for Doha, she seemed launched towards prestigious goals. But only in this season have you achieved important results, bringing the best of the 800m to 1’59 “03 and that of the 1500m, at the Bislett Games in Oslo, to 4’01” 42. She always competing in women’s trials. “Sometimes – explained Nikki in another post – I feel out of place. Even if colleagues always have friendly attitudes, it can be embarrassing to be the only one who, referring to herself, uses the third plural personal pronoun”. It should be clarified that World Athletics, at Hiltz, does not deny the possibility of competing among women over distances between 400 and the mile, as happens instead to Caster Semenya and 12 others with her condition, because she is not present in the list of those who she is considered a dsd athlete, i.e. with “disorders of sexual development”. In March 2025 this list will be updated. “The solution – she suggests – as is the case with the London, Boston and Chicago marathons, could be the creation of a third category”.

Flag

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Meanwhile, Eugene. Where she preceded by 34/100 the 800m world champion, the eagerly awaited Athing Mu, little accustomed to distance, capable of improving herself by more than 7” in one go. “At one point – he says – I saw a rainbow flag in the grandstand. I bet it was there for me. After the race I met those who waved it and I gave them my bib. They are the reason why I won. Or at least one of reasons”. The battle continues.