- Aayden Gallagher won by two-tenths of a second on Saturday
A transgender teen athlete was booed when she was crowned state champion in the Oregon 6A girls’ 200-meter race.
Aayden Gallagher won by two-tenths of a second and was also booed as she crossed the finish line on Saturday.
The high school student posted the fastest time during the preliminary heats before taking the state title.
She was announced as state champion and her name was greeted with a mix of applause and boos.
The races took place in Eugene, Oregon, in the same stadium where the US championships and Olympic trials are held.
A transgender teen athlete was booed when she was crowned state champion in the Oregon 6A girls’ 200-meter race.
Aayden Gallagher won by two-tenths of a second and was also booed as she crossed the finish line on Saturday.
Gallagher was victorious in the 200m final on Saturday and was alongside six other girls when the result was announced.
The stadium announcer declared her the state champion, but her name was greeted with a mix of boos and cheers.
It comes after he won his heat for the 400m race on Friday with a time of 55.25 seconds.
His performance earned him one of the five spots, but he narrowly lost out in the final by 0.15 of a second.
The 10th grader placed second in both heats behind Josie Donelson, who won her heat and narrowly edged her into first place with a time of 55.04, Athletic Live reported.
Sophie Castaneda was listed in third place overall and second behind Gallagher with a time of 55.65 seconds, according to the outlet.
In a clip shared online, boos could be heard in the background as Gallagher crossed the finish line during Friday’s heat.
Even before the victory, his participation in the race was criticized by Republican lawmakers, who called for a change in regulations after Gallagher achieved a victory during an earlier 400-meter race.
Gallagher was victorious in the 200m final on Saturday and was alongside six other girls when the result was announced.
It comes after he won his heat for the 400m race on Friday with a time of 55.25 seconds.
The controversy was reignited after Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who campaigns against allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s sport, shared footage from Gallagher’s most recent race.
Gaines claimed Gallagher “dominated” his most recent series on Friday and asked, “When will we see coaches and parents standing up to this mockery?”
Oregon State Activities Association rules allow athletes to participate in a category that aligns with their gender identity without the need to provide evidence of a medical transition.
The controversy was reignited after Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who campaigns against allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s sport, shared footage from Gallagher’s most recent race.
Gaines claimed that the student who finished second in the 200-meter dash was the rightful winner of the state championship.
The activist previously brought attention to Gallagher when she shared another video of the sophomore riding to victory in a race at the Sherwood Need for Speed Classic last month.
Gaines became an anti-trans activist after tying for fifth place with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in a 2022 swim meet. However, Thomas was awarded the trophy over Gaines.
The Kentucky swimmer has since joined forces with a dozen college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on Thursday, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing Thomas to compete in the meet.
OSAA CEO Peter Weber has defended the organization’s trans-inclusive policy.
“Oregon law has long prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” he wrote in a letter to his critics.
‘In 2019, the Oregon Department of Education amended its rules for defining ‘sexual orientation’ to include ‘gender identity.’ The Oregon legislature also amended the definition of “sexual orientation” to include “gender identity.”