“You throw like a girl!” “You run like a girl!” “You hit like a girl!” These taunts are probably all too familiar to any young lady who had the audacity to line up for a neighborhood kickball game or join a T-Ball league.

Fast forward to adult athletics, though, and the taunts reverse. “You’re getting beat by a girl!” is a phrase I hear repeatedly at cycling races. When females can hold their own against male competition, it’s an incredible feat. It shouldn’t be turned into a sexist heckle, even if the woman isn’t the direct target.

In cycling, as it is with many other individual sports, women’s turnout is generally much lower than men’s. Female participation at local races increased dramatically this year, but because racers need to earn a certain number of points before upgrading to a more skilled category, the beginner’s fields are the ones filling up. More advanced female racers are left with the same few faces to compete against every week, crossing the finish line with the same predictable results.

Women may choose to race in the men’s categories for several reasons. Some want the extra practice, others want the extra push.  Sometimes the most advanced female competitors simply have no other women competing at their level, which can make winning first place pretty boring.

It is astounding that some women have pushed themselves to this competition level, despite the inherent disadvantages of competing against men.

Chiefly, men have the physical advantage—presumably why sporting categories are separated by gender in the first place. Higher testosterone levels increase muscle mass, while estrogen tends to encourage the accumulation of fat cells.

This also means men typically have a lower body fat percentage. A study conducted at the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Georgia compared the physical traits of 34 male and 34 female runners who had undergone comparable fitness training. One test asked the runners to run as far as possible in 12 minutes. The results showed men averaged 568 meters more distance than women. The studied females averaged 20 percent body fat, while the males averaged 11 percent. At least from a scientific perspective, men’s testosterone levels help make them naturally faster and stronger than women.

Additionally, in endurance sports like cycling, as well as running or skiing, men naturally have higher levels of maximal oxygen consumption, meaning they have a greater ability to transport and use oxygen while exercising.  A male athlete’s maximal oxygen consumption will typically exceed a similarly trained female’s by more than 10 percent.

The next step in the University of Georgia testing was to simulate higher body fat levels in the males, attempting to achieve results more comparable to those of the female runners.  In the same 12-minute test, the weighted-down men were still able to run an average 395 meters farther than the women.

In cycling, men’s races typically last longer, and the pace is generally faster than the women’s. It takes a great deal of diligent training for a woman to stick with the men’s pace, let alone finish competitively. It is admirable that some women have pushed their bodies hard enough to race at the next level.

Men’s races also have a reputation for being more aggressive. Elbows jab, shoulders bump and wheels rub when riders aren’t careful. It takes courage to race in a men’s field, knowing you’ll have to match the level of aggression and potentially put yourself at greater risk.

I feel honored when racing against a woman I know has competed in men’s fields. The amount of hard work and dedication involved to get to that level is outstanding and something not every athlete is capable of achieving.

Next time you see someone “getting beat by a girl,” give that woman a round of applause.