Trans skateboarder defends competing against children after beating 13-year-old girl

A 29-year-old transgender skateboarder has defended competing against young girls, saying “I’m not going to go easy on them because they’re kids”.

A 29-year-old transgender skateboarder who came under fire for beating a 13-year-old girl in a skateboarding competition has defended competing against children, saying “I’m not going to go easy on them because they’re kids”.

Ricci Tres, from Los Angeles, won the women’s division of the Boardr Open street skateboarding competition over the weekend and a $US500 ($720) prize, with 13-year-old Shiloh Catori, from Florida, coming in second and taking a $US250 ($360) prize.

Four of the six finalists were under the age of 17, with the youngest being 10-year-old Juri Iikura, who came in fifth.

Ricci Tres won the women’s competition. Picture: The Boardr Open New York City

At 29, Tres was the oldest contestant.

Tres, a former Navy officer who previously went by Richard Batres, has three children to an ex-wife. Tres began taking testosterone-suppressing hormones two years ago.

“I’ve decided that I like being pretty and cute,” Tres told the outlet.

The transgender athlete’s victory sparked outrage on social media among critics, who blasted Boardr Open for allowing a much older competitor to face off against biological females — many of them children.

Skateboarder Taylor Silverman led the chorus of discontent, writing in an Instagram post, “Male wins women’s finals and money at Boardr Open NYC presented by DC today. My story is not unique in skateboarding.”

Shiloh Catori, 13, from Florida, took second place. Picture: The Boardr Open New York City

Silverman, who has been skateboarding for 11 years, previously complained on social media that she had lost to transgender rivals twice, including at the Redbull Cornerstone competition in May, when she missed out on $US5000 ($7200) in prize money by coming in second.

But Tres has remained defiant, telling The Daily Mail in a new interview on Tuesday that skateboarding is not as physically demanding as swimming or running and that age and gender “don’t count”.

“I’m not going to go and be easy on them because they’re kids,” Tres said.

“It’s funny it’s what I am getting beat up over the most, people saying, ‘You’re beating little kids, little girls.’ I didn’t intend to do that. This is the first one I’ve been to that I actually wanted to win … the age thing doesn’t really count.”

Tres was always interested in skateboarding but didn’t consider it professionally until it became an Olympic sport in 2020.

“I’m just skateboarding to be happy,” Tres said. “I just want to be happy.”

According to The Daily Mail, Tres attempted to enter the Women’s Street USA Skateboarding National Championships in a bid to qualify for the Olympics, but was rejected for having too much testosterone.

Tres argued it was a different situation to that of University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who became the first transgender woman to win the NCAA’s Division I swimming championship in March, sparking controversy.

Earlier this month, the swimming’s world governing body, FINA, banned most transgender female athletes from competing in all major events, including the Olympic Games.

“I don’t think I have physical advantage,” Tres said.

Ricci Tres used to go by Richard Batres.

“Look at me. I’m not buff or anything. I don’t work out really, I just skateboard. And I don’t think skateboarding has anything to do with physicality, especially when you look at kids these days. The whole physical aspect of skateboarding isn’t really there. It’s really the skill level. Any kind of advantage you get is determined by … skaters know … it’s your commitment and determination.”

Tres likened it to being “a race car driver”.

“If you love the sport, it speaks to you and you find ways to do what you do on your board,” Tres said.

“If I have any advantage is that I’m extremely determined. But that’s not an advantage. Everyone has the opportunity. It’s kind of like a race car driver. It doesn’t matter what you look like, you can drive the car regardless of your physique.”

The Navy veteran has three children and an ex-wife.

Tres suggested skateboarding should have different categories than just male or female.

“There are so many suggestions,” Tres said.

“It goes in hand with all the feedback I am receiving. A lot of it is negative, a lot of it is positive. I think it’s all necessary. People can get angry people can get happy and people can come together and come up with something. Personally I don’t think segregating everything is the right way. I feel like that would be calling us different, like a different human race when we’re not.”

Tres came to the “realisation” of being female two years ago after feeling “guilty” for secretly cross-dressing for years as a child.

“It was the thought of the fact that I’ve lived 27 years with these little guilt over random things that I didn’t give myself time to understand like cross-dressing … finally I just came to the realisation that I am female, have a lot of female energy and that is what I prefer to be,” Tres said.

Four of the six finalists were under 17. Picture: The Boardr Open New York City

Tres’s ex-wife and three children now live in Minnesota and the family haven’t seen each other for more than a year.

“You can only ask so much,” Tres said.

“They’ve been so beautiful and even being away, they’ve begun to develop their own understanding for what it all means.”

Shiloh, meanwhile, says she has no hard feelings.

In a video released this week, she said she was not upset “at all”, adding that skateboarding was a tolerant sport and anyone should be able to compete.

“If anything, I feel bad for Ricci right now,” she said.

— with NY Post

Originally published as Trans skateboarder defends competing against children after beating 13-year-old girl