The story of how transgender runner Cal Calamia took on the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and won

Cal Calamia just wanted to run. They’ve done that since fifth grade. They did it on the high school cross country team. As Calamia continued to enjoy the power of running, while simultaneously understanding their transness, there was another discovery: competitive running wasn’t welcoming to them.  

This led to Calamia becoming an activist pushing for races, including high profile ones like the Boston and Chicago marathons, to add nonbinary divisions.   

Calamia's journey to running the Chicago Marathon changed everything for them and other transgender runners. Calamia, in the fall of 2023, was reported to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for taking testosterone, a prohibited substance in the agency’s eyes but a lifeline for Calamia and others who undergo hormone replacement therapy.   

Calamia felt they were being told “you cannot be who you are, and do what you love, at the same time.” Calamia was investigated by the agency for several months.  

“It was a very invasive process that required that I submit a lot of documents related to my medical records, even my psychological records, things like my therapist notes,” Calamia told USA TODAY. “They wanted to see evidence of documentation of sex reassignment surgery, a letter in which I explain that I am trans, and why I have undergone medical transition. Just a huge laundry list of items.”  

But Calamia withheld some of the requested information. Still, two days before Chicago, they were granted an exemption that is valid for 10 years. Later in the year they won the New York City Marathon’s non-binary division.  In March 2024 Calamia won the Los Angeles Marathon's first-ever non-binary category.

Calamia’s experience led to them creating the Non-Binary Run Club in San Francisco. They hope to help other trans and non-binary runners avoid the problems they faced.  

Calamia shares their story like other athletes featured in this project so “people who are listening can glean one little piece of information that might change their mind just a little bit about who trans and nonbinary people are.”