Riya Young Suising Qualifies for Boston Marathon

Riya Young Suising, a 57-year-old transgender woman, has qualified to compete in the female division of the 2025 Boston Marathon, celebrating the achievement on social media. Suising, formerly Robert Chien Hwa Young, qualified with a time of 4 hours, 1 minute, and 27 seconds, just under the female qualifying standard of 4 hours and 5 minutes. If competing as a male, Suising would not have qualified, as the male cutoff is 3 hours and 35 minutes. This situation has sparked controversy, with critics arguing that the Boston Marathon's gender qualification rules allow biological males to compete in women's events, potentially leading to unfair results. The marathon's non-binary category has also seen biological males winning in its two years of existence. Suising has a history of competing in women's races and has previously been involved in legal disputes regarding gender identity.