Rudy turns to TikTok to find out why they stopped playing sports
Success in badminton runs through the family of Rudy Jean Rigg. Rudy—who is transgender, non-binary and uses the pronouns they/he—is excellent even reaching state level. Rudy’s grandmother, Jean Tyrrel, is believed to have started Australia’s first badminton school. “It kind of started, like most things, rather informally,” they said. Their mother, Michelle Rigg, was a three-time junior national champion and later junior national coach. And their sister? Junior national doubles champion. While Melbourne-based Rudy used to play the sport, they don’t anymore. “No, I haven’t really played but I want to get back to playing,” they said. The reasons why are being explored in Rudy’s TikTok documentary series, Transathletica, which looks at the unique barriers transgender and gender-diverse people face to participate in sports. Journalist Narelda Jacobs said Sydney WorldPride 2023 would be a “tremendous opportunity”. ( Provided: Jaimi Joy ) “I felt if I confirmed my gender in any obvious way