Trans Athlete Doesn’t Make U.S. Olympic Track & Field

Keelin Godsey, a 28-year-old from Massachusetts who was seeking to become the first openly transgender athlete to represent the United States at the Olympics, failed to qualify for the London Games in the women’s hammer throw competition held here Thursday.

Godsey, who was named Kelly at birth but has publicly identified as a male since 2005, finished fifth in the two-round trials at Nike headquarters, which determined the three members of the United States team. The longest of Godsey’s six throws was his fourth, when he set a personal best of 231 feet 3 inches, but even that was 11 inches short of the third-place finisher and final Olympic qualifier, Jessica Cosby.

Asked afterward what he saw for the future of his athletic career, Godsey hesitated. For nearly eight years, he said, he had looked at the end of this Olympic cycle as the end of his career; he had indicated, too, that he would then begin the medical part of his gender transition, making it impossible for him to continue competing as a female.

But faced with that reality, Godsey hedged. “I don’t know yet,” he said. “I’m trying to make a lot of decisions right now.”

In a telephone interview earlier this week, Godsey’s mother, Renee, said she was optimistic about Godsey’s chances of reaching London. It had been a childhood dream for Godsey, Renee said, and as a mother she wanted nothing more than to see her child achieve that kind of satisfaction.

She added, though, that she understood the larger picture. Godsey faced considerable scrutiny and criticism since coming out as a transgender athlete, and Renee worried about what might happen if his story reached the Olympic spotlight.  Read More