Luca Kumahara is the first transsexual male table tennis athlete and will be able to compete in the official competitions of the modality. The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) approved the change in that category.
The athlete had started his gender transition process at the beginning of the year, when he started treatment.
After requesting the request, the Brazilian Confederation of Table Tennis, the ITTF created a group of studies redirected solely to the case of Luca, due to the unprecedented nature of the issue.
When Luca started the transition, he still needed to continue competing in the women’s category. Her last participation in women’s tournaments took place at the World Cup held in South Africa, in May this year. Now, Luca is officially allowed to participate in men’s competitions.
In an interview with Grupo Globo, the table tennis player revealed that if he had more access to information on gender issues, he could have made the gender transition earlier.
“It’s hard to know what my story would have been like if I hadn’t been involved in sports. But I’m almost sure, because I was always sure that I was a boy, that if I hadn’t been part of the sports environment, I would have taken that away from me. longer. Maybe as a kid, or teenager. Also, considering the real scenario, it wasn’t talked about much back when I was a kid and teenager”, he spoke.
Source: Maxima
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