Hendro D. Situmorang, Jakarta – John Khan – a bodybuilder from Central Sulawesi who has competed in the men's category – reveals that she was born a woman.

Being a bodybuilder, John has a muscular physique with defined biceps. Nobody would have guessed that John was a woman based on the appearance alone.

"I was born a woman. I even visited the doctor. My hormone test result shows that I have more male hormones at around 90 percent," John said on Monday, as quoted from Jakarta Globe's sister publication Beritasatu.

John's ID card shows that her real name is in fact Sarlina Hamza – a woman born in Butukan Village, Central Sulawesi, in 1998. John said, as a child, she wore skirts in elementary school and would play with cooking sets like most girls. On campus, professors and friends would call her John. When the professors had to take class rolls, they would call her as Sarlina Hamza.

The 22-year-old bodybuilder only began to hit the gym to build her body and did not expect to get into bodybuilding as she is now. Surprisingly, John even posed for the men's 60 kg category at a Southeast Asian-level body building championship in Gorontalo back in 2019.

"At the time, I only relied on my confidence. I could compete because the committee did not ask about my gender," she said.

Aside from bodybuilding, John once pursued athletics, basketball, boxing, as well as rowing. When she first started boxing, she even met Indonesian boxing legend Chris John in 2019. This encounter led her to go by the name "John Kahn".

John, who currently works as a gym instructor in Boul, seeks to become an accomplished bodybuilder. She even idolizes Indonesian bodybuilder legends such as Iwan Samurai and Ade Rai.

"In the future, I would like to become like Iwan Samuray and Ade Rai, who are known in Indonesia for their achievements."

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/lifestyle/this-mens-category-bodybuilder-turns-out-to-be-a-woma