A neozelandesa Laurel Hubbard durante competição de levantamento de peso feminino em Gold Coast, Austrália, em 9 de abril de 2018 ( AFP / Adrian Dennis)

Fake article targets first transgender Olympian Laurel Hubbard

This article is more than one year old.
Published on July 5, 2021 at 08:23
1 min read
By AFP Australia

Facebook posts shared hundreds of times claim that New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, who was selected as the first transgender Olympic athlete suffered a testicle injury weeks before the Tokyo Games. However, the claim originates from a satirical website. As of July 5, 2021, there have been no credible reports of Hubbard suffering such an injury.

The claim was shared in a Facebook post published on June 22, 2021.

“Female weightlifter suffers tragic testicle injury weeks before Tokyo Olympics,” reads the headline of an article alongside a photo of Hubbard.

A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post as of July 1, 2021.

Hubbard was selected as the first transgender Olympic athlete ahead of the Tokyo Games in a groundbreaking call by Kiwi officials.

The weightlifter, who also competed as a male, became eligible to lift as a woman after showing testosterone levels below the threshold required by the International Olympic Committee, AFP reported.

Other instances of the headline appear in these Facebook posts here, here and here.

However, the claim originates from a satirical website.

A Google keyword search of the headline’s text led to this article on The Babylon Bee from June 21, the same day it was announced Hubbard would represent New Zealand in the Tokyo Games.

A screenshot of The Babylon Bee’s website, as of July 1, 2021.

The Babylon Bee describes itself as a satirical site here.

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Fake article targets first transgender Olympian Laurel Hubbard

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