The first transgender male athlete to compete in the Olympics was Ellia Green.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Green revealed that as a young child, he first thought he was a boy. Green was an Australian rugby sevens squad member that took home the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics. However, he’s chosen to continue using his given name.
Green added, “When I was younger, I remember thinking I was a boy in society. I had a short (haircut), and anytime we encountered new people, they believed I was a boy.” “I used to play with tools, wear my brother’s clothes all the time, and go about naked. I didn’t think much until I started to develop breasts.”
He said, “would dress me in feminine clothes… I always desired to please her, so if she desired me to put on a dress, I wore a dress.” His mother, Yolanta, who, along with his father, Evan, adopted Green at a young age, did this.
The athlete also spoke openly about his experiences in a film unveiled Tuesday at the Bingham Cup International Summit to combat homophobia and transphobia in the sports sector.
His decision to withdraw from rugby at the end of last year after being passed up for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, he claimed in the video, marked a turning point in his career.
He admitted, “Toward the conclusion of my profession, I began experiencing some mental health concerns. “I made one vow to myself: I would continue to live the rest of my life with the identity and body I should have after my rugby career finished.”
And he said, “After I retired from Australian rugby, I spent a great deal of time alone in the house, in a darkened room. I was devastated because I felt like a total failure because I wasn’t chosen for the Tokyo Olympics. I could not leave the house because I believed that to be a criticism of my entire person.”