Mark Weston (athlete)
Mark Weston (born Mary Louise Edith Weston, 30 March 1905 – 29 January 1978), nicknamed "the Devonshire Wonder", was one of the best British field athletes of the 1920s. He was a national champion in the javelin throw and discus throw in 1929 and won the shot put title in 1925, 1928 and 1929.[1] At the 1926 Women's World Games he finished sixth in the two-handed shot put, where the final result was a sum of two best throws with the right hand and with the left hand.[2] Weston had a genital abnormality and was assigned as female at birth and raised as a girl.[3] In April–May 1936, Weston underwent a series of gender changing operations at the Charing Cross Hospital. He changed his first name to Mark, retired from competitions and later worked as a masseur.[4][5]
In July 1936 Weston married Alberta Matilda Bray and they had three children.[3] Following his example, his elder sister Hilda also changed her gender and name in the 1930s; Hilda/Harry hanged himself during a depression in 1942.[5] Mark Weston died in the Freedom Fields Hospital in Plymouth in 1978.[3]
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- ↑ BRITISH ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 1919–1939. gbrathletics.com
- ↑ FSFI WOMEN'S WORLD GAMES. gbrathletics.com
- 1 2 3 Watman, Mel. “Women athletes between the world wars (act. 1919–1939).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. Oxford: OUP, May 2012.
- ↑ "Girl Who Became Man Tells of Metamorphosis". Reading Eagle. 28 May 1936
- 1 2 Heggie, V. (2010). "Testing sex and gender in sports; reinventing, reimagining and reconstructing histories". Endeavour 34 (4): 157–63. doi:10.1016/j.endeavour.2010.09.005. PMC 3007680. PMID 20980057.