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Transgender darts player Noa-Lynn van Leuven won titles against men and women in the same week and immediately came under fire for being allowed to compete against female opponents.
Van Leuven won a women’s event in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) on Saturday, leaving Beau Graves and Katie Sheldon behind. The victory came more than a week after van Leuven won a mixed competition against John Henderson, Cam Crabtree and Tytus Kanik.
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A general view of a dartboard with the PDC logo during the day three final of the Ladbrokes Masters 2021 tournament at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes. (Zac Goodwin/PA Images via Getty Images)
Van Leuven told The Guardian last year that the transition started at the age of 16, and when Van Leuven started getting involved in women’s competitive darts, the backlash began.
“I became increasingly unhappy with myself, to the point that I didn’t want to live anymore,” Van Leuven told the outlet. “And that was the moment when I thought: I can go either way now. I can end it all, or I can live the way I want to live.”
PDC CEO Matt Porter told The Guardian last year that Van Leuven adheres to the organization’s transgender participation policy. The PDC follows the policy of the Darts Regulation Authority, which is governed by the International Olympic Committee.
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General view of a PDC board during day two of the William Hill World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London on Thursday, December 16, 2021. (Kieran Cleeves/PA Images via Getty Images)
The IOC’s darts policy requires that transgender female competitors have a testosterone level of less than 10 nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months and that gender identity cannot be changed for at least four years. The transgender woman may not have a “presumption of advantage” and the IOC advises sport to “provide disproportionate advantage, which should therefore be mitigated”.
Van Leuven’s participation and eventual victory in the sporting world caused some controversy, including among the Dutch national team. Anca Zijlstra and Aileen de Graaf both stepped aside from the team.
“That moment when you are ashamed to come out to the Dutch national team, because a biological man plays in the women’s team, it is time to go,” De Graaf wrote on Facebook, via The Sun.
“I have tried to accept this, but I cannot approve or validate this. I believe that there should be a level and fair playing field in sports. I hope with all my heart and for all women in sports that people come to their senses.”
Tennis icon Martina Navratilova also spoke out against van Leuven.
Martina Navratilova, a Czech-American former professional tennis player, speaks during a joint press conference with Chris Evert of the USA on Day 5 of the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun 2023 as part of the Hologic WTA Tour, on November 2, 2023, in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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“Once again: women get the short end of the stick no matter what. And it stinks,” she wrote on X.
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