Jamie Gambrell (second from left) with fellow 2023 Women's World Cup winners. Photo: Chris Roberts/Kick Photo
At first glance, this year's women's golf and croquet championship on the Sussex coast seemed the least likely place for a scandal. As befits the game as England's noblest summer pastime, Dame Mary Berry, herself an avid gambler, was the guest of honor at the opening ceremony, where she was presented with a cake decorated with a croquet lawn. Behind the scenes, however, there was a heated controversy over the fact that the most prestigious women's award in sports was won by a biological male.
This is the first known time that a women's global title has been awarded to a person born male. Australian Jamie Gambrell, who competed as a male back in 2019, is recognized as “assigned male at birth” by the World Croquet Federation (WCF). But when the sport returned after the pandemic shutdown, the 23-year-old Canberra began identifying as a woman and became the women's world champion at her first attempt in August.
Telegraph Sport spoke to several of Gambrell's rivals, all of whom are outraged by the unquestioning gender politics that allowed the Australian to self-identify in the women's category and defeat England's Rachel Gee, the 2011 champion, in this year's final. Sue Lightbody, a member of England's World Cup squad, said the women had no idea they would be playing against a biological male until they arrived at the tournament in Southwick, near Brighton.
Jamie Gambrel plays against Rachel G in the World Championship final. Photo: Sarah Patton
“There was a huge amount of concern,” Lightbody said. “But no one was ready to say or do anything. I was very upset by this situation. We thought that it would be against us, that we would not be chosen for another team. Everything was secret, everyone was afraid that they would be called transphobic. People told me not to get involved, saying, “Don't do anything, you'll make yourself very unpopular.” But this simply shouldn't happen. This is fundamentally unfair.”
Croquet's gender politics are essentially pure self-identity, allowing players to compete according to “the gender identity they persistently and consistently use.” Ian Berridge, WCF President, said: “The fact that Jamie was assigned male at birth is not in dispute. Jamie now identifies as a woman as her participation in the World Championships was determined in accordance with our policy approved by our members in April 2022. We welcome feedback given the concerns that exist regarding speech in this area.”
Leading female players claim that Gambrel, having gone through male puberty, has a compelling physiological advantage in golf croquet. Unlike professional croquet, this sport involves elements of strength and endurance. “The key shot in golf croquet is the jump shot,” Lightbody explained. “If you're on the boundary, you can jump over a couple of balls and go through the hoop. I can only do medium jumps, I can’t do them from the baseline. But Jamie can. This is a huge advantage over a woman.”
The losing finalist “was hiding behind her sunglasses because she was crying”
Another international woman competing at the World Cup, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It's not just jump shots. To hit a 500 gram ball 20 meters, I need to use 80 percent of my strength. The more force you use, the more accuracy you lose. Endurance is also an important factor. But in some ways, the “why” isn’t that important. The world rankings, in which only 12 of the top 100 players are women, prove that there is a difference.
“We never thought we would have this problem. I felt really bad for Rachel in the end, who was hiding behind her glasses at the end because she was crying. She didn't complain. She trained so hard to become a women's world champion, and then someone born a man comes and takes her away.”
Gambrell is recorded to have competed in numerous croquet competitions in Australia as a male, winning an award in 2019 from the Victorian Association for a video promoting the sport to younger audiences. “Jamie is an up-and-coming croquet player who just finished third in the prestigious President's Eight,” the citation reads. “He will compete in the Under-21 World Championships and the World Golf Croquet Open Championships in England.”
That all changed after Covid when Gambrel changed his identity to female. An Australian source said: “What I know is that since Jamie has competed in women's tournaments, she has won them all: the Women's World Cup, the Australian women's singles twice, the New Women's singles South Wales. Recently in our team competition, representing NSW as the No. 1 female, Jamie went undefeated in the five day event. No other No. 1 female player went undefeated. Perhaps these results speak for themselves.”
“Something went wrong when a man became the women's world champion.”
By the time Gambrell arrived at the World Championships as one of 56 competitors from 16 countries, switching from male to female was an open secret in the game. At several points during the official YouTube broadcast of Gambrella's first match against Louise Smith of England, the commentator accidentally referred to the player as “he”.
With women in croquet finally ready to speak out, there is now pressure on the WCF to introduce a policy , which promotes the integrity and fairness of women's competitions. Fiona McAnena, director of sport at Fair Play for Women, said: “There are only a few women's tournaments in croquet. Something went wrong when a man became the women's world champion. This is not about inclusion, but about recognition – at the expense of women.”
Neither Gumbrell nor Croquet Australia responded to requests for comment.
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