Lauren Fleshmen: NPR Interview

I haven't read the book, and most likely won't. I was responding to the previous poster's general questions about her, not the book.

In my opinion, and limited interactions with her over years of following her, that's how she comes off.

I Think it's nice she wrote this book, but it's just...not something I'm probably going to read. But I'm not going to criticize it either.

It was very brave of her to compete in track and field, a sport notoriously unaccepting of female competitors. A sport that would never celebrate female athletes and what they bring to the sport.

How she made it, I just don't know. Guess I need to read the book to see how she over came such obstacles!

My thoughts, as well. I'll also grant that she could have evolved her views and stances from when I witnessed them a decade ago. I think she has a lot to offer and could very well evolve into a true leader in the sport.

It seems like exactly the same issue. People who go through male puberty can develop an unfair advantage over people who don't go through male puberty.

Setting limits on testosterone levels over some extended time period prior to competition is a partial solution. It does not compensate for all of the developmental advantages. But if you are trying to balance inclusiveness and fairness, it seems like a good approach.

I'm so tired of the rancor and politicization over this debate - if people on both sides would work in good faith to address the issue, there might be a solution. But that is not going to happen.

I think this is a great post and a problem I think becomes much more apparent in college when you're living around your team. As a male athlete I didn't notice some of the girls' houses having basically nothing but peanut butter on their shelves in their houses and apartments until a girl on the team pointed it out. You're right about "healthy" being the term that gets bandied around including by elite women sharing recipes inevitably with 8 ingredients not sold in regular grocery stores. I can't imagine keeping up with the super foods and new leafy greens all lending itself to being very selective and limited in what you eat. It's a huge problem and, in my opinion, should be confronted whether it's uncomfortable for coaches or not.

Also, I was a hyper talented 15 year old who struggled to improve and stay healthy for the rest of my career. It sucked and took a major mental toll on me at times and resulted in some bad psychological outcomes elsewhere in my life that took a while to unravel. I can only imagine it being worse for the many girls who struggle through physical changes in high school and have severe performance dips.

From my experience I think the sport can be truly unhealthy for young people physically and mentally and watching the top 1% of the top 1% of pros breeze through championships, PRs and bounce back from surgeries like nothing is just not how it works for the rest of us. One change I think would help but isn't realistically going to happen is to distance ourself from traditional times and events for high school athletes and encourage odd distanced focused on competition and teams (especially against local competition) to allow a much larger swathe of the population to experience success in competition and to limit the intense competitive comparisons going on online between truly great athletes who just aren't going to make it as pros.

One more thought about this statement: I also know that Lauren has spoken about the male gaze and it seems like part of her book is about challenging the idea of not just "men coaching women," but the concept of the "male gaze" in coaching and disrupting THAT fundamental idea within coaching. I definitely know what she is talking about.

My question with her comes up when she questions the male gaze, AND at the same time praises VIN, and as you say, says gave her good coaching guidance!

Vin is an old school guy! He's not some progressive coach.

If she could recognize his limitations, why did she try to learn from him? And give him credit, when he supports the very thing she's disrupting?

This is why I think she...talks a lot, but it's often in a circle and she doesn't even realize it.

This is a relevant article. I am glad NCSU and BYU are doing the right thing.

runnersworld.com

Top College Running Programs Move Away From Body Composition Testing

“If it’s detrimental to one female student athlete, it’s going to be detrimental to a lot more,” says BYU head coach Diljeet Taylor.

Open link

Yep, this is the problem with so many people who want to use their opinion to legislate decisions about other people's bodies. That would include the right to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy, for example, but also the right to decide whether or not a trans-female is allowed to compete against a biological female. These choices are personal to the individual making them and should not be forced on all by the few. Choices, in my opinion, have trade-offs. So if you choose to transition from a man to a woman, this choice would be made with the understanding that you've giving up the right to compete against biological women - because you're no longer a biological woman. Like any decision of import, it's important to weigh the pros and cons. You can't have it all.

Rojo- did you ask her to be on your podcast yet? Now is a good time before she’s done pushing her book sales…