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.
Watch as Piers Morgan rants about reports that Sophie Turner, a female actor, could be set to play Boy George in a biopic: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.