A transgender girl won the Oregon state track title, which made people in the stadium boo and added to the anger over the growing number of male-born players in girls’ and women’s sports.
Aayden Gallagher, a sophomore at Portland’s McDaniel High School, won the gold medal in the girls’ 200-meter race at the Oregon School Activities Association track and field title on Saturday. Fans at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field booed her as she crossed the finish line.
As shown in a video on X, there were more boos than cheers when Gallagher was named the “girls’ 200-meter state champion” on the podium.
“See how the girls on the podium cheer when second place (the real winner) is called out?” “Then watch them when the boy’s name is called out,” wrote All-American swimmer Riley Gaines on X. “Don’t say that girls are okay with this; they’re not.” This is very sad and goes backward a long way.
Athletic.net reported the final results, which showed that Gallagher beat Roosevelt High School sophomore Aster Jones by a nose with a time of 23.82 and Jones came in close behind with a time of 24.02.
Junior Josie Donelson of Lake Oswego High School beat Gallagher by less than a second to win the 400-meter run with a time of 52.83. The time Gallagher got was 52.98.
Gallagher didn’t do anything wrong. The OSAA policy lets students participate in sports based on their gender identity. However, the transgender athlete’s strong performances this season brought up the issue of fairness and inclusion in girls’ sports again.
The mother of one of the female runners told The Publica that the OSAA has told students who complain about transgender athletes playing girls’ sports that they will be kicked out of the school.
The mother, whose name was not given, said in the video post, “My daughter is a senior, and she has to compete against Aayden, who just won first at state and took away spots from our girls, and he doesn’t deserve it.” “He needs to be with the guys.”
“You have no right taking away from these girls,” she said. Also, how they feel is important.
Editor of DyeStat, Doug Binder, wrote on RunnerSpace.com that Gallagher has a “background in weight training” but had never participated in track and field before this season when she joined the girls’ team.
In the Sunday editorial, he asked, “Are we supposed to believe that someone who just started competing in track and field two months ago and is male in every way except identified gender is the fastest girl to ever come out of Portland, Oregon?”
He said, “The newcomer from McDaniel High jumped the line and went straight to the top of the girl’s rankings in the state.” This was possible because of the OSAA’s transgender policy, which doesn’t require hormone suppression or surgery.
“The example set on Saturday is unsettling, and it puts the integrity of the state meet at risk,” the editorial said.
So far, the Washington Times has not heard back from the OSAA. Gallagher hasn’t said anything in public since the state finals.
Nike, a company based in Oregon, funded the championships. Nike has used transgender athletes in its ads.
Save Women’s Sports laws have been passed in 24 states that say biological males can’t play high school sports for girls. However, Oregon, a blue state, is not one of those places.
