Team USA athlete Chris Mosier competed in the Sprint Duathlon World Championship race Sunday in Aviles, Spain, making him the first openly trans man to compete on a men's U.S. National Team. Mosier completed the race, which was a 5k run, 21k bike, 2.8k run, in a time of 1:06:29, and placed 26 out of 47 men in the 35-39 age group. He was the second-fastest American male in the category, and placed 146 out of 433 of all men.
This also marks the first time a trans athlete has competed under the new International Olympic Committee policy, which was announced in January. Mosier challenged the policy after making Team USA in June 2015 at the Duathlon National Championship race in St. Paul, Minnesota.
"I'm extremely happy with today's results," Mosier said following the race. "It was an amazing experience to be able to pull on this uniform and represent my country with the rest of Team USA." Mosier said this moment was even more important because June is Pride Month. He hopes his visibility as an openly trans athlete will inspire others to stay in sports, and along these lines he would love a high-five from President Obama.
"I am proud of this moment, not only for my own athletic career, but also for the sports equality movement as a whole," he said. "This opens the doors for other transgender athletes. I am excited that others can see this moment and know it is possible to continue to compete at a high level while being your authentic self."
Support for Mosier's trip to Spain was provided by the Sports Equality Foundation and individual donors via Mosier's GoFundMe page.
