TOKYO — Laurel Hubbard fulfilled a lifelong dream by taking part in the Olympic weight lifting competition. She also found the whole experience excruciating, an ordeal that the 43-year-old Hubbard said Tuesday she was glad was over.
Hubbard was catapulted to worldwide acclaim simply by being present at the Tokyo Games. As the first openly transgender female to participate in the Olympics, Hubbard, who for years has intensely guarded her privacy, received the type of attention usually reserved for the Games’ biggest names, towering sporting figures like the gymnast Simone Biles and the Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka.