Na Hwa-rin, a biological male, says she felt, at the early age of 7, that she should have been born a female. At 37 years old, Na transitioned last year, and is now officially recognized as a woman under South Korean law.
After her gender change, as a lifelong cyclist, she wanted to continue racing. She did so at the Gangwon Sports Festival recently, against biological women. However, Na said that she did so not to compete herself, and feel the euphoric feeling of victory, but to prove a point. She wanted to race against women to show that biological men are physically superior to biological women.
Na faced negative comments during her transition, but claims she had been planning this change for upwards of two years. After her victory at the Gangwon Sports Festival, Na told the Korean Times that she felt-
"more relieved than triumphant."…"I have no unresolved feelings over winning because that's no longer what I want. My goal was to stir controversy and get my story heard by competing," …"I am not honored. I am not proud of myself at all," she said. "I believe other transgender athletes would feel the same way. They may not want to admit it, but they're being selfish. There is no honor as an athlete in that."
-Na Hwa-rin
Na qualified with the victory, for the National Sports Festival. Reportedly she declined the invitation saying -
"I don't want to make an issue to the point where I harm other people,"
--Na Hwa-rin
She suggested, that committees should include a "third gender" category saying that-
"It could be like how we have many weight divisions in some sports… Under the current binary system, women athletes will be discouraged, and their hard work might not be recognized due to the participation of transgender athletes. At the same time, trans woman athletes, no matter how hard they worked, will never be truly honored for their wins. Honor is the goal that all athletes aspire to attain, but this is a situation where nobody will be honored. I think that shouldn't happen,"
-Na Hwa-rin
“You dream. You plan. You reach. There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits.”
-Michael Phelps