A young female rugby player who was left screaming in agony after a transgender rival tore apart her knee ligaments has accused sporting chiefs of letting her down.
Elena King, 20, suffered a torn ACL and MCL in January in the Netherlands after her biologically male opponent popped her left knee out of its socket with a rash challenge.
Now facing lifelong pain and six months of physiotherapy just to run again, she is asking why the Dutch Rugby Association allows transgender athletes to compete against women.
Serious injuries are part and parcel of the risk of playing rugby, but King insists the sheer strength she was exposed to was something that should not have been allowed in the women’s game.
‘I felt the strength being used against me: it’s nothing that I can explain because I don’t have that strength myself,’ King told The Times.
‘A cis woman could not have pulled my leg out of its socket… I heard a really loud pop. That’s when I started screaming. My leg was on fire.
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Elena King was left with a torn ACL and MCL after a horror tackle from a trans rugby player