Chris Mosier already made history as the first transgender athlete to earn a spot on the U.S. national team at the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Now he’s made advertising history with a commercial for Nike in which he is the star.
“Everything that I’ve done in the last five, six years since I started to transition, has been with [a] “Just Do It” mindset,” he explains in the press release accompanying the ad, the first featuring a transgender Olympian.
“I didn’t know if I would be competitive against men; I just did it. Every success that I’ve had since then has shown me that anything is really possible. By not stopping myself, not limiting myself and just really going for it, I’ve learned a lot about myself and also had the opportunity to further the conversation on trans inclusion in sports.”
The Olympics are more trans inclusive because of Mosier’s refusal to give up, which is celebrated in the commercial.
In 2015, Mosier placed seventh with a sprint duathlon time of 01:02:45.48 in the male 35-39 group at the national championships. His incredible feat in the 5K-run, 20K-bike, 2.5K-run race led him to challenge the international transgender competition policy, and that sparked the creation and adoption of new guidelines that allow for the participation of transgender athletes.
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Watch Mosier’s Nike ad below, and scroll down for a look behind the scenes of this groundbreaking commercial, via YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gq8PO9XK2Y&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzygAflB_xI&feature=youtu.be