Piers Morgan hits out at trans weightlifter as she closes in on Olympics

Piers Morgan has hit out against transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard after she won gold at a Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifier.

The 41-year-old New Zealand native transitioned from male to female in her 30s and, before she came out, had previously competed against males.

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And Morgan, one of the hosts on Good Morning Britain, responded to Hubbard's win on Twitter, claiming that male to female transgender athletes are a threat to women's sports.

"This is insane," he tweeted. "Women’s rights to basic fairness & equality are getting destroyed at the altar of political correctness."

One user, who shared his views, wrote: "I agree. And what exactly is this doing for women’s sport? There’s very little data on transitioned strength athletes. And at least until there are more studies on the impact a sex change has on a male body, I am sceptical about what should be allowed in women’s sport."

In response to the user, Morgan added: “Trans women born with biological male bodies have a massive physical advantage against women born with female bodies in any sport where power and strength are significant factors. This shouldn't be a contentious claim, it's just a rather obvious fact.”

And there were plenty more Twitter users who weighed in on the debate:

One person wrote: "I never thought I'd say that I agree with Piers Morgan but I agree with Piers Morgan. I'm going to have to lie down now..."

Another wrote: This insanity is robbing little girls of dreams of olympic competition. When women’s/girls sports are open to all, women/girls lose. This isn’t fairness. They created girls and women’s sports for a REASON [sic]."

Hubbard hopes to compete at Tokyo this summer in the women's super-lifting category.