Zdeněk Koubek was a transgender track athlete born on December 8, 1913, in Paskov, Czechia. Raised in a poor Catholic household with eight siblings, he was an active child fascinated by athletes. His interest in track and field was acquired when his family moved to Brno. While he succeeded academically and considered being a clerk, by the time he was 17, he decided to dedicate himself to sports.
After several impressive track performances, he joined the Prague University team and worked as a part-time instructor and coach there while training. In 1932, at 19 years old, he broke his first national record and then set five more. Soon after, in 1934, he broke two world records and won two medals in the Women’s World Games in London.
Following the World Games, his success was questioned because of his androgyny after newspapers pointed out that some of his behaviors could be considered masculine. Also, an anonymous request was placed suggesting his examination by doctors appointed by the Olympic committee. Koubek decided, as a result of these events, to step away from the sport to prioritize his happiness. Later, a Czech writer named Lída Merlínová released a book titled Zdenin světový rekord (Zdena’s World Record) which fueled the controversy about his sportsmanship, as it pointed out how he did not conform to his assigned gender.
Koubek stepping away from high-level competitive sports as a result of cis-gender norms is an example of how important gender is within high-level performance in the competitive sports community. When he stepped away from competitive sports, athletes who competed at the international level were often required to participate in invasive and demeaning tests to test the athlete’s sex to ensure they were not committing gender fraud, as described in the Making Queer History article on Koubek. The use of cis-normative notions of gender to categorize competitive athletes is still in practice today. For example, the accomplishments of many female athletes, especially those of Black women, are devalued based on the historical view that it is more masculine to have more muscle mass and higher performance. Also, the competitive sports community requires the testing of testosterone levels, as they perceive it to be another marker of masculinity. As a result, it is more likely for the gender of these athletes to be questioned and for them to be forced to go to hormone replacement therapy or quit their sport entirely.
Although current practices within the competitive sports community differ from when Koubek stepped away, the same cis standards confine competitive athletes to cis-gender norms and result in the loss of extraordinary athletes like Koubek.
Written by Anika Mueller-Hickler
Sources:
Darling, W. (2024, February 27). Zdeněk Koubek. Making Queer History. https://www.makingqueerhistory.com/articles/2019/5/30/zdenk-koubek
Kenety, Brian. “Zdena / Zdeněk: The Interwar Czech Champion Who Changed Genders.” Radio Prague International, 31 Aug. 2021, english.radio.cz/zdena-zdenek-interwar-czech-champion-who-changed-genders-8720071.
“Medicine: Change of Sex.” Time, Time, 24 Aug. 1936, time.com/archive/6755783/medicine-change-of-sex/.
Waters, Michael. “The 1930s Athlete Who Broke the Gender Barrier.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, 10 June 2024, www.history.com/news/athlete-gender-barrier-zdenek-koubek.