A row has erupted in the usually polite sport of croquet after a transgender Australian was crowned women’s world champion, infuriating some of her competitors.
Jamie Gumbrell, a 23-year-old from Canberra, won the Women’s Golf Croquet Championship in Southwick, England back in August. Only now, months later, have her beaten rivals voiced their displeasure in the British media.
Gumbrell previously competed in the sport as a man, as recently as 2019, but has since transitioned and now identifies as a woman.
While the World Croquet Federation recognizes she was an “assigned male at birth,” the governing body’s rules don’t prohibit her from competing in the women’s game.
At a low-key trophy presentation in August, having beaten England’s Rachel Gee in the championship final, Gumbrell was warmly applauded. (You can watch this presentation online, a touch after the six-hour mark.)
“I’d just like to thank you, thank everybody. All the referees, the tournament managers, everyone in the kitchen, everyone involved with livestreaming, and all the players,” Gumbrell said in a brief, subdued speech.
“It’s been amazing. It’s been really tough. And also, Rachel, that last game, you definitely did not make it easy.”
It was Gumbrell’s first time competing for the women’s world title, and she proceeded through the tournament with a perfect 11-0 record. Gee, meanwhile, had been trying to become the only woman ever to win the championship more than once.
Media coverage of the final, written by those with far more croquet knowledge than I, praised the Australian’s “controlled, efficient swing and ultra-calm demeanor”.
However other croquet players are now criticising the federation’s handling of Gumbrell’s entry into the tournament, saying they were blindsided her presence and were not expecting to compete against a “biological man.”
“There was a huge amount of disquiet,” Sue Lightbody, an England international, told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper.
“But nobody was prepared to say or do anything. I was quite sick about the situation. We thought it would go against us, that we wouldn’t be picked for another team. Everything was hush-hush, everyone was worried about being called transphobic.
“People told me not to get involved, saying, ‘Don’t do anything, you’ll make yourself very unpopular.’ But this just shouldn’t happen. It fundamentally isn’t fair.”
While physical strength is a lesser factor in croquet than in other sports, Lightbody argued that it does still play a role – and that, having gone through puberty as a male, Gumbrell does have an advantage.
“A key shot in golf croquet is the jump shot,” she told The Telegraph.
“If you’re on the boundary, you can jump over a couple of balls and get through a hoop. I can only do mid-jumps, I can’t do one from the baseline. But Jamie can.
“That is a huge advantage over a woman.”
Another competitor from the world championship, who wished to remain anonymous, said Gumbrell’s natural advantages weren’t limited to jump shots.
“To hit a ball that weighs 1.1 pounds 22 yards, I have to use 80 percent of my strength. The more strength you use, the more precision you lose. Endurance is also a factor,” she said.
“But in a sense, the ‘why’ is not so important. The world rankings, where only 12 of the top hundred players are women, prove that there is a difference.
“We never thought we would have this problem. I really felt sorry in the final for Rachel, who at the end was hiding behind her sunglasses because she was crying. She didn’t complain. She had been training so hard to be the women’s world champion, and then someone born male comes and takes it away.”
The President of the World Croquet Federation, Ian Burrell, stressed that the sport’s policy on gender came down to self-identification.
“The fact that Jamie was assigned male at birth is not disputed by anyone,” he said.
“Jamie now identifies as female and her entry into the world championships was determined in accordance with our policy, approved by our members in April 2022.
“We welcome feedback, given the concerns that exist around speaking out in this area.”
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