Transgender Olympic Athlete: 'My Goal Is to Win So I Can Burn US Flag on the Podium'
Anti-American posts emerge from trans BMX freestyle rider Chelsea Wolfe
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A transgender athlete, who has just qualified as an alternate to represent Team USA in this year's Tokyo Games, once vowed to "win the Olympics so I can burn a US flag on the podium."
On June 12 Chelsea Wolfe, a 28-year-old Florida native, announced qualifying for the Olympic as an alternate in the BMX freestyle event at the upcoming games in Japan.
“I am positively a different person than when I set off on this journey and I’m so grateful for every experience along the way and I’m so excited and honored to keep working so I’m ready to shred in Tokyo in case I’m needed,” Wolfe wrote.
Traditionally, the Olympics are a time when Americans come together under a shared sense of patriotism and unity.
However, for Wolfe, a biological male who competes in female events, the dream of standing on the winner's podium would mean an opportunity to express the exact opposite.
In a Facebook post last year, unearthed by Fox News, Wolfe declared that being able to set fire to the American flag in protest while on the podium was the motivating factor driving them to want to win at the Olympics.
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"My goal is to win the Olympics so I can burn a US flag on the podium," Wolfe wrote on March 25, 2020.
"This is what they focus on during a pandemic. Hurting trans children."
Included underneath Wolfe's text was a link to a PinkNews story titled, "Trump administration officially declares it believes trans girls should be treated as 'biological males.'"
In conversation with Fox News, Wolfe claimed that the since-deleted post was not intended to convey a disdain for America.
Rather, Wolfe echoed an Antifa talking point that such actions are allegedly an attempt to "take a stand against fascism":
"Anyone who thinks that I don't care about the United States is sorely mistaken," Wolfe told Fox News.
"One of the reasons why I work so hard to represent the United States in international competition is to show the world that this country has morals and values, that it's not all of the bad things that we're known for.
"I take a stand against fascism because I care about this country and I'm not going to let it fall into the hands of fascists after so many people have fought and sacrificed to prevent fascism from taking hold abroad.
"As a citizen who wants to be proud of my home country, I'm sure as hell not going to let it take hold here."
Wolfe, who was born a biological male, if given the chance will compete as a female in the upcoming games in Japan.
Earlier this month, in an Instagram post announcing being accepted as an alternate, Wolfe discussed being a transgender BMX rider.
"I searched for so long trying to find out if there had ever been a professional trans BMX rider to show me that who I am would be okay and unfortunately I found no one," Wolfe said.
"I had the badass cis women inspire me but there was always a disconnect.
"Eventually I started to meet some amazing women who helped me accept that I am a woman just like any other and that I deserve a place to exist in the world just like everyone else."
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In order to compete as a transgender female athlete, the International Olympic Committee specifies that athletes must declare that their gender identity is female and cannot change that declaration for at least four years.
As part of an effort to maintain "fair competition," the athlete must also test under specified testosterone levels at least 12 months prior to competitions.
