Head coach of the Samoan weightlifting team, Jerry Wallwork believed Hubbard was at an unfair advantage.

New Zealand's transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard has drawn strong criticism from Samoa ahead of her Commonwealth Games competition.

The 40-year-old Hubbard lifts in the women's heavyweight division of the competition on Monday night.

"A man is a man and a woman is a woman and I know a lot of changes have gone through, but in the past Laurel Hubbard used to be a male champion weightlifter," Jerry Wallwork, head coach of the Samoan weightlifting team said.

GETTY IMAGES New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is no stranger to controversy.

Samoa's Feagaiga Stowers is ranked No 2 in the Commonwealth behind Hubbard, and Wallwork senses his lifter is competing for the silver medal at best.

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"The strength is still there and I think it's very unfair, and for all females it's unfair.

"The situation may have been accepted by the IOC but that won't stop us from protesting, regardless of whether it's against one of our lifters or not. It's just very unfair. Feagaiga is a little bit disheartened. She had a real chance of competing for a gold medal but now it's a bit of an unfair disadvantage, as you can see."

Hubbard has tried to maintain a low profile ahead of the Games, arriving late to the Gold Coast.

Hubbard was cleared by the International Weightlifting Federation to compete in women's tournaments last year.

She represented New Zealand as Gavin Hubbard before she transitioned in her mid-30s. The International Olympic Committee allowed her to take part in last year's world championships after ruling she had undergone at least one year of hormone therapy and was recording sufficiently low levels of testosterone.

Hubbard was a silver medallist at the world championships in the United States.

Paul Coffa, the secretary general of the Oceania Weightlifting Institute said Hubbard had satisfied all the rules and deserved to compete.

"She's done everything according to the IOC rules and she's proven that she's a woman," Coffa told the ABC.

"You can't stop criticism, but I see it differently, she's done what she's required to do, so give her a chance and let her continue."