Who is Anne Andres? Trans woman breaks women's powerlifting record, sparks online controversy 

Trans woman Anne Andres set a national record in Canada for powerlifting. On Sunday, she competed in the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s Western Canadian Championship. She took part in the Female Masters Unequipped category. After surpassing her opponents, internet users were left uncertain of her breaking a woman’s record, which sparked controversy online.

Anne Andres’ total powerlifting score at the Brandon University Healthy Living Centre event was 597.5 kilograms, which was over 200 kilograms more than her opponent SuJan Gill who held a 387.5 kg score.

The 40-year old’s score now stands as the heaviest weight one has squatted, deadlifted and bench pressed.

The powerlifter has set a women’s national record in Canada and also an unofficial world powerlifting record in the women's category.

She took to Instagram to boast about her success. She said on Instagram:

“I don’t care about records. I care about being there with my friends… Thank you for having me friends. I am always honored to be there with you. I hope I earn it.”

As she celebrates her success, a video of Andres mocking other women’s powerlifting records has gone viral online. In a viral clip which has amassed nearly two million views, Andres said:

“Why is women’s bench so bad? I mean not compared to me, we all know that I’m a tranny freak so that doesn’t count and no we’re not talking about Mackenzie Lee, she’s got little T-Rex arms and she is 400 pounds of chest muscle apparently. I mean standard bench in powerlifting competition for women, I literally don’t understand why it’s so bad.”

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Who is Anne Andres? Riley Gaines expresses outrage over latest record

Anne Andres has a total of 794 followers on her official Instagram account where she has written in her bio:

“Alberta powerlift record holder for bench and dead. Lousy squat :) Aiming for 600lb deadlift world record! Sad/ angry sister account RawrLiftsRAWRS”

Among the many who blasted Anne Andres’ latest record was women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines. While misgendering Andres in a Tweet and addressing Justin Trudeau, she said:

“Andres’ record is a mediocre lift by a mediocre male powerlifter because the Canadian powerlifting union is discriminating against female athletes.”

Gaines also claimed that the prime minister has a “radical disdain for women.”

She also addressing the aforementioned Andres clip by saying:

“Women’s bench might be bad to you because you are a male who has gone through male puberty with a male amount of testosterone.”

Canadian competitive powerlifter April Hutchinson also spoke against Andres’ record on Piers Morgan Uncensored. She said that she was disheartened by Andres’ win that “athletes have been chasing that for years.” She also added:

“It goes to show the advantages, the physiological advantages that a male has over a female, whether it’s muscle mass, bone density, lung capacity. I could go on.”

Anne Andres can compete in women’s powerlifting competitions since the gender self-identification policy is in effect. This allows athletes to take part in competitions based on their preferred gender alone and without requiring them to submit information about their hormones or medical transitions.