Make It Count: My Fight to Become the First Transgender Olympic Runner

by CeCé Telfer

By turns harrowing and hopeful, MAKE IT COUNT is the inspiring story of the first openly transgender woman to win a NCAA title, following her traditional upbringing in Jamaica, her fight to become a US citizen, and her efforts to achieve her Olympic dreams.

CeCé Telfer is a warrior. The first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA championship, she has contended with transphobia on and off the track since childhood. Now, she stands at the crossroads of a national and international conversation about equity in sports, forced to advocate for her personhood and rights at every turn. After spending years training for the 2024 Olympics, Telfer has been sidelined and silenced more times than she can count. But she's never been good at taking no for an answer.

MAKE IT COUNT is Telfer's raw and inspiring story. From coming of age in Jamaica, where she grew up hearing a constant barrage of slurs, to beginning her new life in Toronto and then New Hampshire, where she realized what running could offer her, to living in the backseat of her car while searching for a coach, to Mexico, where she trained for the US Trials, this book follows the arc of Telfer's Olympic dream.

This is the story of running on what feels like the edge of a knife, of what it means to compete when you're not just an athlete but treated like a walking controversy. But it's also the story of resilience and athleticism, of a runner who found a clarity in her sport that otherwise eluded her—a sense of being simply alive on this earth, a human moving through space. Finally, herself.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Sports, LGBT, Biography, Audiobook, Transgender

Audible Audio

Published June 18, 2024

Reviews

[Elizabeth Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content Warnings: Transphobia, Homophobia, Homelessness, Gender Dysphoria

Telfer’s memoir is vivid, poignant, and compelling as it moves through each stage of her life and the challenges she has faced, and continues to face, as a Black, trans woman athlete. From her childhood in Jamaica and Canada to her time in college and beyond, she skillfully describes how she navigated from living a double life to building an authentic self and supportive network. She never shies away from describing her difficulties, but also throughout maintains a positive, forward looking mindset.

Most of all, Telfer recognizes the transformative potential that a sports narrative can provide. She purposefully uses her work to not only share her lived experiences but also to call out the blatant discrimination trans athletes face. Her section describing her attempts to compete internationally revealing how the testosterone testing guidelines are vague, if accessible at all, the difficulty in finding good medical and athletic care, and the long term effects of managing her testosterone levels were eye-opening to me, but powerful in how they clearly laid out the varied barriers to reaching her goals.

I read through this book in one setting because of how invested I was in Telfer’s experiences. I think many will find inspiration and representation in this narrative that are needed, particularly in light of the contemporary spike of anti-trans sentiments. Telfer embodies the ideals of being the change one wants to see in the world. I highly recommend this book and am glad I read it.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I've been in headlines across the United States and across the world, I've been named personally in anti-trans legislation. I've been honored by top LGBTQ organizations, I've been painted as a hero, as a villain, as a symbol, as a representative for an issue that has taken center stage in the culture wars. But when people are busy turning you into a symbol, they forget what you really are: a human being. A person with needs and desires, fears and hopes just like everyone else. At the end of the day, I'm just a girl with a dream. A girl with so much love in her heart.
And all I want, all I've ever wanted, is the freedom to run.”

NCAA champion CeCé Telfer details her life story: from a young child in Jamaica to her thwarted efforts to compete at the Olympic level.

Telfer paints the often painful portrait of being the only one in her field: the only openly transgender woman at her level. It's isolating, but she has persevered because she loves the sport, she loves competing, and she knows that she is opening doors for the queer girls who come after her.

This book made me so angry. The open hate and bias and transmisogynoir Telfer experiences. The discrimination few other female athletes are subjected to (my mind drifts toward the similar hatred experienced by Castor Semenya), the monthly hormone testing and dangerous HRT treatments she undergoes to maintain compliance with fickle USTAF regulations, not to mention the constant bureaucratic gaslighting and discrimination, and how no elite coach will go to bat for her.

A book that talks about what it means to be a woman in sport.

A good companion read for this book is The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports, which provides great historical context for the discrimination and transphobia Telfer (and many other Black women in sports) face.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. What to say about this incredibly eye opening memoir of trans athlete and Olympic hopeful Cece Telfer. I am an ally, but still found myself facing my own biases as I read Cece Telfer’s story. Put your personal opinion of trans athletics aside, and read this book.

Cece has known her whole life what her true gender is, but her culture, fear of the loss of her mother’s love, fear for her safety, and rejection kept her living a double life. Her story is full of prejudice, fear, perseverance, heartbreak, discrimination, and an amazing support system she built despite the odds.

Cece does a wonderful job articulating her mental health struggles amidst her experiences, sometimes more clear through her telling of events than discussion of her mental health specifically. Although a few moments feel a bit repetitive, for a story ultimately about running, it is gripping and insightful.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[saranimals · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would be more interested in hearing from the poor girl whose NCAA title was stolen from her by this person. They and everyone like them are destroying the Title IX protections that an entire generation fought to achieve. Save Womens Sports!

[Jordyn Pace · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - This was an incredible story but oh so heartbreaking for the outcome of Cece's track career. I'm so happy i got to learn more about Cece and her story!!

I had heard a bit about Cece as the first transgender woman to win a NCAA National title, but I really had no clue about her journey to that point, all that she has had to overcome in life, and the unfortunate obstacles after her big accomplishment in 2019. I love a good memoir, and as part of pride month I was so excited to get an early copy of this book!!

Cece Telfer has been fighting to be recognized as a woman and be treated equally in sports since she was just a kid in Jamaica. She found her love for track and sports in general when she was a young girl, living in Jamaica, unable to be her true self when surrounded by her family. She dealt with so much discrimination and transphobia within her own family, as well as in every place that she lived, as she moved often in her youth. While growing up, the only thing that Cece wanted was to be recognized by her mother and her family as her true gender, female. She wanted to run with the female athletes, where she belonged, instead of being subjected to slurs and dysmorphia when forced to compete with the boys. Cece began to find herself and feel confident to express her true identity and gender as she moved to Canada and the US, where she was able to surround herself with sisters and people that believed and her and lifted her up.

When Cece finally got rid of her deadname and began running with the female track runners while in college, she was suddenly put on a national stage, forced to undergo intense scrutiny, transphobia, and discrimination. Cece set her sight on being the first transgender olympic runner, and knew that she would be placed under intense scrutiny, have to undergo many medical tests to meet the World Athletes and USTAF regulations for transgender woman. Yet, she still preserved. She faced homelessness, economic insecurity, food insecurity. Not a single professional coach agreed to coach her. But she kept running. In March of 2023, World Athletics, the governing body for the Olympics Track and Field athletes, banned transgender athletes from running at the Olympics. And so Cece's dream came to an end. But this book is so much than that. Although Cece shouldn't have to stand up to the discrimination she faces, she continues to fight for transgender rights and equality, especially to change the way of sports.

This book was so moving, powerful, and informative. I loved learning more about Cece and educating myself more about the discrimination that transgender athletes face. Thank you so much to GrandCentralPub for the early copy in exchange for my honest review!!

[Effie (she-her) · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a story! It broke my heart so many times. Hopefully we'll see her compete in the Olympics 2028🏅

Never give up Cecé!

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving and at times heartbreaking story of perserverence, passion, pain and persistence told from the voice of a determined Jamaican American trans woman hurdler with big Olympic dreams. I hadn't heard of CeCe before but learning about her childhood growing up in a very conservative, homophobic and transphobic home was hard to hear and the way her Olympic dreams for 2020 got shut out because of paperwork technicalities was a travesty. I love that she doesn't give up or let setbacks discourage her from pursuing her dreams of being one of the first trans women Olympic medalists. I really hope we get to see her in Paris 2024!! Highly recommend this amazing memoir that is excellent on audio narrated by the author themselves!

[Jeremy Reppy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Make It Count" is an important story. I hope the book is widely read and that Ms. Telfer and her story can inspire other transgender athletes and help change people's heart and minds so that discrimination against transgender athletes (and the wider transgender population) can be diminished. Ideally, the discrimination would end entirely but realistically there will always be people who are closed-minded and prejudiced. Hopefully World Athletics will eventually realize the error of its ways and change its policy; and hopefully this will occur soon enough that Ms. Telfer still has a chance to pursue her Olympic dreams someday (maybe 2028 in Los Angeles?).

Ms. Telfer is open about the struggles she has faced (and continues to face) trying to live and compete as her authentic self, including periods of deep depression and profound dysphoria. However, Ms. Telfer has also been lucky enough to find supportive friends and surrogative family. Attending Franklin Pierce University turns out to be one of the best decisions she made, as she found a supportive coaching staff and administration, as well as making enduring friendships. I was happily surprised at how much support university staff provided Ms. Telfer, and the willingness of the coaches and administration to deal with the "controversy" caused by Ms. Telfer competing in collegiate athletics, especially her final year, when she was able to compete on the women's team.

[Haley Crenshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

"At the end of the day, I'm just a girl with bad dream a girl with so much love in her heart. And all I want. All I've ever wanted, is the freedom to run"

Not only does it take courage to step out into the world as a Trans person, but to also put yourself in the spotlight.

Take a journey with Cecé through this book. Learn, cry and be joyful as she walks you through the challenges of being the first openly transgenic woman to win an NCAA championship and work her way to the Olympics

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emotionally difficult read, but very important/historic. Ms. Telfer is a skilled writer.

Also - I'll be honest, as a dyed in the wool nerd, I was a little nervous that the "sports talk" would lose me, but it is not too technical, in the weeds or tedious for a non runner/athlete.

***I received this book for free as part of the advanced copy giveaway from GoodReads, but this has not influenced my opinion on the book.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for a free copy of this book.

Review to come soon.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

good pace (get it)

[Arwen Mellor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
So full disclosure I have known CeCé since she was still using her deadname. I worked at FPU and in that capacity had a friendship with her. She is/was VERY good friends with someone I refer to as my daughter. I wish and hope only for the best in her pursuit of her dreams both on and off the track.

The discrimination of Tran athletes is horrendous! I was stunned when the former POTUS and his son tweeted about Cecé, dragging her into a horrible limelight going into the championships. She went offline to protect herself and I know I’m not the only friend who went in fighting in social media to defend her.
Unfortunately fairness doesn’t come into play on this fight. Minds can be changed, but in most cases they won’t be. Science has a stance but refusing to follow the findings in science and pretending to err on the side of caution to the point of absurdity is more the norm. I absolutely believe that the international athletics authorities chose to be pushed to mold their decisions based on popular feelings of disinformation and fear, filling in with “scientific backing”. Moving the goalposts to suit the pressure of political and monetary backers became more of a priority than keeping the integrity of competition.
I do hope that Cecé and other trans athletes who come down the line continue to put pressure on USATF and World Athletics. I hope they drive the research into the spotlight that shows the truth behind hormonal differences and how they do and do not affect performance. And the fact that there are cis women who if tested monthly for a year before competitions would not meet the standards set for trans women. That people are born intersex and should they choose to compete they may not meet the requirements to compete. There have already been women AFAB who have been excluded from competition because they were not considered to be a woman by the testing set forth by these agencies.
Folks need to keep in mind that yes Cecé won a NCAA championship and as Olympics tracked. But the “clear dominance” in the sport that so many people fear is just not there! She had plenty of races where her results were not wins, so many that were abject failures as far as results. And how to explain when a trans man is allowed to compete? Because it’s assumed he will not win. But what happens when he succeeds? Will new rules spring forth to nullify those results?


All that to say there are parts of this book that rub me the wrong way., feel unbalanced or incomplete.
Changing names doesn’t make it seem like facts are omitted to balance some stories.
I definitely learned a lot about her childhood and upbringing.
Names have been changed, timelines are slushy. And it bears remembering that this is a memoir not an autobiography.

I have been and remain a supporter and ally of Cecé as well as other LGBTQ+ people. Say what you want about them but please remember that first and foremost they ARE PEOPLE, humans who have feelings and emotions. No one needs you to “agree” with whatever but please be kind.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading CeCé's story! I am not a sports person, but her story still resonated and I was able to follow along her journey through her life and athletic career. The flow is very readable and carries you along--I found myself eager to keep reading and read it quickly. She does a good job of emphasizing two truths--she is a woman, and she wants to run in the Olympics. There is palpable heartbreak in the first half of the book while she sees those two dreams as incompatible. However, when she realizes that she wants to try and do both despite the difficulties that will certainly come her way, you can't help but cheer for her.

The most heartbreaking thing to me here is that she HAS to tell this story. The political atmosphere and the way a lot of athletics currently works means she's often reduced to a statistic, a sheet of paper, or a news article. Towards the latter half of the book, when she describes the pervasive surveillance of her body both in the news/internet and medically, it was so frustrating to read all these extra barriers in the way of her dream and the intensive pressure that is uniquely put on her and not most other athletes. I wish everyone who thinks that trans women should not be in sports would read this story and be reminded that what they are scared of is not an amorphous imaginary situation, but real human beings with their own unique stories. Not to mention the other things going on in her life--because of her gender, race, and an unaccepting family, she has much fewer social safety nets than the average person, and has to deal with unstable conditions in her daily life while dealing with a society and sports committees that treat her as a controversy instead of a person.

Although her journey is not done, I thought the book ended in a good place that leaves the reader with a desire for change while maintaining some hope. Even though her road is difficult, I'm happy to see her paving the way, both for herself and for any future athletes who will be looking for someone like themselves to look up to.

[Christina Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

CeCé’s story has all the traditional elements of a great sports memoir (true grit, love of the sport, reflection on how competing has changed and inspired her life both on and off the track), but it also powerfully highlights her unique experiences overcoming discrimination as an athlete and a trans woman more generally.

I firmly believe that it’s critical to engage deeply with the lived experiences of fellow humans, especially those who have had to endure challenging or hard to understand circumstances that we may not have personally experienced ourselves. After reading this, I feel like I better understand the ways that being an athlete can serve to help positively affirm someone’s gender identity and empower them, and I also have much more context on how deeply difficult it is to simply exist in the world as a Black trans woman, especially in the context of seeking to compete at the highest levels of a sport.

There are so many moments of triumph in this book coupled with equal measure of heartbreak. Though CeCé’s experience is uniquely her own, her resilience in the face of challenges and unwavering faith despite sorrow are both universally inspiring. I cannot believe she’s able to stay positive despite the hate she’s endured from so many different people and groups - imagine having your life threatened at scale just for trying to compete in a sport that you’re exceptional at as the person you are?

“Sports narratives inspire, ignite, evoke emotions, and most importantly, transcend cultural boundaries and unite people from across the globe under a common passion. They should be about bringing people together, not tearing them apart. Allowing every human being to engage in sports fosters a more equitable world, where talents can flourish, stereotypes can be shattered, and dreams can be realized irrespective of one’s race, sexuality, or gender.”

Go off, sis - I hope you get the Olympic gold you deserve. 🥇

[Joanne Lannin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Telfir's account of her struggles to be recognized and accepted as a trans woman and an elite runner was heartfelt and compelling reading. I was not surprised by the hatred and the discrimination she faced, but it still broke my heart to read about it. Whatever your opinion about trans women being allowed to compete with the gender with which they identify, it's to be hoped that you'll be as incensed as I was about the death threats she received and the inability of those in the elite running community to treat her fairly. It's one thing to have rules that disqualify someone from competition, but it's quite another to make up new rules just to exclude a specific person. Fair is fair, and Telfir was not treated fairly.
I don't know if Telfir had a ghost writer, but if not, I think her editor should have excised some of the choppiness in the narration, especially in the beginning chapters. It seemed appropriate to adopt a staccato pace when talking about the events surrounding a given race, but its overuse got a bit monotonous.
That said, I think anyone looking to understand the controversy surrounding trans women competing with females from a trans woman's point of view should read this book. I came away from it really admiring Telfir for her courage and her persistence in fighting for her right to be seen and accepted as the female she has always known herself to be. I also admired her allies: the cis gender women runners who were not afraid to compete against her, as well as the people who befriended her and essentially saved her life.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a pre-publication copy.

[kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a lovely memoir. Although I know little about the world of elite sports, much less elite track, I enjoyed learning about all the ins and outs of the sport and all that athletes go through to reach the Olympic trials.

What Telfer went through in order to do the same was eye-opening, as we get an inside look at the vague and never ending extra rules trans* athletes are subjected to. If, as Telfer writes, cisgender athletes were subjected to the same level of scrutiny and body policing as trans* individuals, many of them likely would not even qualify due to the lack of a hard binary in physical sex anyway.

I really felt for Telfer and admired her strength as she faced hurdle after hurdle (not just on the track) in trying to realize her lifelong dream of competing at the top. She is very honest about her experience, recounting not just her successes but also the times she had major doubts about her career in the sport, either due to hardships like experiencing homelessness, dealing with complicated extra regulations, or even facing verbal abuse and death threats from the public. The way she talks to and about herself in light of all she has dealt with was however so empowering and a joy to read!

If you like memoirs, you would probably like this because in addition to her journey as a top athlete, Telfer also writes about her childhood in Jamaica and the violent homophobia/transphobia she experienced there, her strained relationship with her family, her experiences moving abroad to Canada and finally around the USA, and all her friends and found family along the way.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast-paced, readable, and accessible to readers from high school up, the author has fought quite a good fight and probably has more to go.

Telfer's background in Jamaica and her many moves, including to Canada and the US will make her story more legible to many people who had unstable family lives during their childhood and teen years. I recognized a lot of my own mother (psycho) in hers.

Reading about her experiences with sport was great, although it's sad that she skipped over the more academic parts of school when she seemed to be a capable student. It's good for trans young people to see role models finishing school, as this is not always the case in our community, and it shouldn't take athletic exceptionalism to make that happen!

It's difficult not to compare her competition experiences with South Africa's Caster Semenya whose book came out in late 2023. Both had difficulties with discrimination based on race and physiological differences, although they each experienced it differently, Semenya being technically an intersex woman and Telfer a transgender woman. Both showed incredible determination. If Telfer had had Semenya's loving family or if Semenya had had Telfer's access to material goods (shoes, spikes) earlier in life, their stories might have each been different.

It is difficult to know, based on how regulations currently stand, if Telfer will ever be able to compete as an Olympic Athlete. She deserves to. That much is clear.

Overall, well-written and an excellent addition to the literature on the trans experience. Recommended.

[Lorena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although CeCé Telfer’s memoir is a difficult read at times, I hope it is read widely and helps people understand and empathize with the transgender experience. She tells her story in a very heartfelt way that I found easy to connect with. My heart broke for her when I read about how abusive her family of origin was and the bullying and threats of violence she was subjected to. Although I occasionally wondered how reliable she is as narrator, I think she has shared her truth as she experiences it.

One of the things I found most eye-opening about her story is the absolute certainty she expresses from a very early age about being a girl. I was hoping that her story would also help me understand the controversy about transgender athletes competing in sports, but I think I was left with more questions than answers. It seems unfair that some sports organizations are banning transgender women from competing, but I also think the world is not ready to accept female athletes solely based on self-identity as Ms. Telfer seems to believe should be the case.

I sometimes felt frustrated reading Ms. Telfer’s story because of some of her questionable decisions and unrealistic expectations of others. I also found the narrative a bit choppy at times and wish she had provided a bit more context about the passage of time. But overall, I found this an interesting and worthwhile read.

I was provided an unproofed ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this book 3.75 🌟
I think her story is really important to read. I believe everyone should go into it with an open mind to learn about her personal experience competing as a trans athlete. She persevered through a lot of hate and negative interactions and never gave up.

With that said, I do have some critiques that lowered the rating for me. This book is written in first person present tense which really threw me off, especially when she was a young child. It read like a diary, but weren't diary entries. Because of this I really wish the book added more dates to keep track of the time frame. I also had some misgivings in regards to Cece's treatment of her friends in the book. She expected people to show up for her always but she didn't show up for them in the same way, stating the relationships met their expiration dates when people set boundaries with her.

Overall I respect her story and find it inspiring how she got up after being knocked down so many times.

Thank you Net Galley and Grand Central titles for giving me the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

🥇Gold medal reads -- my next up The Briar Club and my last read Make It Count🥇

✨ Review ✨ Make It Count: My Fight to Become the First Transgender Olympic Runner by CeCé Telfer

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing for the gifted advanced copy of this book!

Okay, this book put me into the Olympics mood, even though, spoiler alert, the Olympics still is not a very trans friendly place. We see that through the CeCé's struggle as well as other "trans-accusations" pointed at athletes like Imane Khelif.

CeCé's story is incredible though and is a must-read for lovers of sports and supporters of trans and lgbtq+ rights more broadly. The book spans her childhood in Jamaica and moving around between Canada, Jamaica, and the U.S. throughout her middle and high school years. She shows how she's treated in such a variety of contexts that it really made me think about how society treats those who don't fit neatly into gender binaries.

CeCé continues by sharing her college career, and shift to running as a female athlete at the collegiate level, including at the NCAA indoor and outdoor finals. Then she transitions to trying to make it to the Olympics, and her telling of the controversy of being denied the ability to compete at the 2021 Olympic trials is heartbreaking.

This story was made me dig deep in how I thought about gender and sports, and I really appreciate CeCé's commitment to sharing this story. There is a lot of trauma and pain in this story, but there's also passion and resiliency and bravery throughout this story.

Content warnings: COVID / pandemic-era trauma, homelessness and transiency, family violence, anti-trans bullying and harassment, etc. If these might be difficult for you to read, I recommend looking more into the content of this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(4.25)
Genre: memoir, sports
Setting: Jamaica, Canada, Franklin Pierce University and surrounding areas
Pub Date: June 2024

Read this if you like:
⭕️ track & field
⭕️ trans rights & lgbtq+ issues
⭕️ sports memoirs

[Chelsea (gofetchabook) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in one sitting.

Previously, I was familiar with the divide on the issue of whether transgender people should be allowed to compete in the Olympics, but I was not specifically familiar with CeCe Telfer's story. This was incredibly heartbreaking but also uplifting to read at the same time.

Regardless of which side of the argument you find yourself on, this book contained amazing insight and information about what it really means to be a trans female attempting to compete. Also, imagine being a college student, just trying to live your life when the freaking president of the united states decides he has nothing better to do than send out derogatory tweets about you, resulting in literal death threats. No one deserves that.

This book also hit home for me because I didn't realize that she went to college and competed in New Hampshire (my home state) and I found that very interesting.

I would recommend this book to everyone.

[J Kromrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

At turns harrowing and hopeful, “Make It Count” is the inspiring story of CeCé Telfer—the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA title. Her journey spans continents, adversity, and the pursuit of her Olympic dreams.

CeCé’s upbringing in Jamaica was marked by transphobia, yet she found solace in running. After relocating to Toronto and then New Hampshire, she discovered the transformative power of the sport. But her path was far from smooth—living out of her car while searching for a coach, training in Mexico for the US Trials, and facing relentless controversy.

This book captures the essence of resilience, athleticism, and the fight for personhood. CeCé’s story transcends the track—it’s about being alive, moving through space, and claiming her identity. A powerful testament to courage and determination. 🏃‍♀️🌟

[Tiffany Dunton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not usually into memoirs,autobiography and things that for books as i have a hard time getting into them for some reason. But with my daughter being part of the lgbtq community and also plays sports I entered the goodreads giveaway for this book and won. I read it as part of a reading challenge I am in. I gave to give this book 4 stars. It's told very well and I actually learned something new reading it and I was able to actually get into reading it and took me 3 days to read rather than almost a month when I normally read non fiction anything.

[Anna Putnam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cecé is an amazing athlete and a fierce competitor who is helping change the landscape of sports to include transgender people (as they should be). Unfortunately, her book is long and repetitive. I would have enjoyed it a great deal more if it had been about half as long. That being said, I still admire her bravery and tenacity and am so grateful for the advocacy she is doing in the world of sports.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible story. There's so much in this book that showcases the struggles of an athlete and the struggles that get added by existing as a trans athlete. Worth the read.
Taught me so much about athletics from the trans perspective. You gain insight and hopefully become a more kind person because of it

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important and heartbreaking story everyone should read. Telfer’s journey is raw, powerful and frustrating. We have such a long way to go to rid ourselves from the phobia, the rhetoric and the misinformation about trans athletes. There may be no “easy” answer but everyone deserves their moment, their success, their happiness and to see their hard work pay off.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cece’s memoir is a must read! I appreciated learning more about the journey of an athlete who is trans and the obstacles she faced from the sports industry that is transphobic. I started this book to understand trans women in sports and how to better respond to challenges to their right to be athletes. After reading this memoir, I am much better informed.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm all in for trans people competing in the sports they love. This is a nicely written, honest and poignant book about a trans woman fighting her way to compete in the Olympics. Does she have an advantage? Do women with higher testosterone levels than Cecé have an advantage. Let's use science and not emotion to address these issues.