British female darts player Data Hedman refuses to play against a transgender competitor denmark open over the weekend and withdrew himself from the competition.
Headman was faced Noa-Lynn Van Leeuwen in the quarterfinals of the tournament, but instead opted not to play and lost. Hedman rejected reports that she had been ruled out of the match due to illness and also refused compensation that she might have suffered because of her decision.
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Data Hedman in action during the fifth day of the William Hill World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, London. (Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images)
“No faking an illness, I said I wouldn’t play a man on a women’s show,” Hedman wrote on X.
She added, “This topic is causing a lot of outrage in my favorite sport. People can be whatever they want in life, but I don’t think biologically born men should compete in women’s sports.”
Van Leeuwen ultimately lost to Beau Graves in the semifinals. Van Leeuwen defeated Graves in a women’s event as well as a mixed event at the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in March.
Van Leeuwen told The Guardian last year that the change began at the age of 16, and the reaction began as soon as Van Leeuwen started moving into women’s competitive darts.
England’s Det Hedman stood in despair in the final of the Women’s BDO World Professional Darts Championship at the Lakeside Complex in Surrey. (PA Images via Getty Images)
“I was becoming more and more unhappy with myself, to the point where I didn’t want to live anymore,” Van Leeuwen told the outlet. “And that was the moment I thought: Now I can go either way. I can end this, or I can live how I want to live.”
PDC chief executive Matt Porter told The Guardian last year that Van Leeuwen complied with the organisation’s transgender participation policy. The PDC follows the policy of the Darts Regulation Authority, which is governed by International Olympic Committee,
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Det Hedman of England throws in her first round match against Lisa Ashton of England during the first day of the BDO Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship at the Lakeside Complex in Frimley, England on January 3, 2015. (Harry Engels/Getty Images)
The IOC’s darts policy requires transgender female competitors to have testosterone levels below 10 nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months and cannot change gender identity for at least four years. Transgender women cannot have a “presumption of benefit” and the IOC advises the Games have a “disproportionate benefit, which needs to be reduced.”
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