Trans athlete who ran in female category at London Marathon offers to return medal after beating nearly 14,000 women
27 April 2023, 06:07 | Updated: 27 April 2023, 07:05
A transgender athlete who ran in the London marathon's women's race, finishing ahead of nearly 14,000 women, has offered to give back her medal.
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Glenique Frank, 54, from Northamptonshire, previously insisted she had not cheated by entering the race but apologised for entering in the female category.
She crossed the line after four hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds - coming in 6,160th place out of 20,123 competitors.
But Ms Frank has since insisted she will give back her medal if necessary.
"If they want me to give my medal back, I'll say, "OK, fine. No problem," she told the New York Post.
"If they really think I've stolen the place [of a female runner], I don't mind giving the medal back, because I'll run again next year for charity."
"But I don't want to apologize, because I didn't do anything wrong," Ms Frank added.
The personal trainer previously said she was "almost in tears" over the support she received from women during the 26.2-mile run.
However, she also faced criticism from some - including Olympian Mara Yamauchi - who said Ms Frank should not have been allowed to benefit from a "loophole".
She said it was "wrong and unfair" for Ms Frank to compete in the female category, suggesting other female runners had "suffered a worse finish position" as a result.
Ms Frank had been quick to defend her decision to run in the marathon, saying she has "served my country because of all the money I've raised" for charity Whizz-Kidz.
"How can they say that I've cheated, who have I cheated? I did it in four hours and 11 minutes," she told MailOnline.
"I'm going to apologise, I should have entered under the male category but I wasn't taking any advantage over another female.
"I've just entered as a general public [participant] and I'm raising money for charity."
She also said she ran in the Tokyo and New York marathons as Glen Frank "because my passport is male and I haven't had surgery".
"I apologise for entering under the female category because I haven't had surgery yet," she continued.
"I wasn't intending to mislead the public, but I apologise for entering under the female category.
"At the end of the day, I'm not winning the race or prize money so I haven't cheated any other athletes out of their prize."
Ms Frank added that she would not run another race as a female until she had surgery.
"When Glen becomes Glenique and gets female genitalia she will enter as a female," she said.
"Until then I will not enter again [as female] in competitive races where there is prize money involved."
It comes after UK Athletics announced at the end of March that it would ban transgender athletes at its licensed events, saying it was "fair for athletes who have gone through male puberty to be excluded from the female category in athletics".
However, those who had entered into a category that was not their biological sex were still permitted to compete.
The event was Ms Frank's 17th consecutive London marathon and she has set out to complete all six major world marathons including Chicago, Tokyo and Berlin.
