CrossFit has announced that transgender athletes will be allowed to compete in the CrossFit Games starting next year.

Prior to this decision, athletes were required to enter divisions at the annual competition according to their gender assigned at birth. This is part of what led Chloie Jönsson, a transgender woman, to sue CrossFit for banning her from competing in the women’s division in 2014. According to BuzzFeed News, the case was settled in 2015, and now, Jönsson says that she's overjoyed at the company's new policy.

"It’s huge for us. There’s no reason to hold any negative feelings toward CrossFit. I’m just stoked for all of my trans brothers and sisters that we have the chance to compete," she told BuzzFeed News.

CrossFit had also come under fire this past June, when spokesperson Russell Berger tweeted that LGBT pride is a “sin.” He also tweeted his support for the cancellation of a Pride-themed workout at a CrossFit gym. The company condemned Berger’s tweets and fired him hours after his tweets vent viral.

This year's CrossFit Games started this past weekend in Madison, Wisconsin, so the new policy will be in effect for 2019. CrossFit hasn't announced if there will be any restrictions around how trans athletes will be allowed to compete, but according to Will Lanier from the Out Foundation, an LGBT health group that has been consulting with CrossFit, the company has thought about following the lead of the Olympics.

If they follow the Olympics' policy, the proposed rules would require a year of hormone therapy for trans athletes, and would also restrict trans athletes from switching back to compete as their gender assigned at birth.

"This is the right thing to do," CrossFit chair and founder Greg Glassman said at "Big Gay Happy Hour," an event sponsored by LGBTQ+ CrossFit group OUTWOD, on Friday. "CrossFit believes in the potential, capacity, and dignity of every athlete. We are proud of our LGBT community, including our transgender athletes, and we want you here with us."

Temi Adebowale Temi Adebowale is the Editorial Assistant at Men's Health.

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