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A transgender athlete told their critics to ‘get a life’ after they were booed for dominating a girl’s state track championship in Washington.
Veronica Garcia of East Valley of Spokane won the 400m by nearly a second at the championships on Saturday. Garcia also helped their school win the 4x100m relay.
In 2024, Garcia became the first transgender athlete in Washington State to win a state track title and this weekend the 17-year-old was heckled by fans for the second year in a row.
As reported by the Seattle Times, supporters cheered loudly for every other athlete during the medal ceremony, only for boos to ring out when Garcia’s took to the podium.
Earlier, during the warm-up, a man – wearing a shirt that read ‘Save women’s sports’ – shouted ‘Let’s go girls!’ and ‘girls’ race!’
But the defiant 17-year-old hit back at her critics, telling the Seattle Times that the abuse was ‘expected’.
Transgender athlete Veronica Garcia told their critics to ‘get a life’ after they booed the win
Supporters cheered for every other athlete before Garcia was booed after reaching the podium
Garcia of East Valley of Spokane won the 400m by nearly a second at the state championships
‘But it maybe didn’t have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in, I wanted to give up, but angry as in, I’m going to push,’ Garcia said.
‘I’m going to put this in the most PG-13 way, I’m just going to say it’s a damn shame they don’t have anything else better to do. I hope they get a life. But oh well. It just shows who they are as people.’
The 17-year-old continued: ‘I’m really proud of myself… I did what I came to do, and that’s good enough for me.’
Lauren Matthew, who came second in the 400m, was pictured holding a homemade sign which crowned her the ‘real’ champion.
Before and after Garcia competed in the 4x400m relay, athletes from a rival school wore black T-shirts that read ‘Keep Women’s Sports Female.’
In Washington, students are allowed to participate in sports based on their gender identity.
That is despite Donald Trump signing an executive order – entitled ‘Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports’ – and a string of controversial incidents involving transgender athletes this weekend.
In California, AB Hernandez claimed gold in the high jump and triple jump at the state finals.
A masked pro-trans protestor was also arrested at the event after being witnessed using a Progress Pride flag to attack a demonstrator.
Athletes from a rival school wore black T-shirts that read ‘Keep Women’s Sports Female’
In Oregon, meanwhile, two female high jumpers refused to stand alongside a transgender rival on the podium at this weekend’s high school state championships.
Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School abandoned the medal ceremony in an apparent protest of a fifth-place finisher, who is reportedly transgender. Reese finished fourth in the state final while Anderson was third.
Rather than taking their spots on the podium, footage obtained by Fox News showed the girls turning their backs to the crowd before being ushered away from the ceremony by an official.
