Trans athlete tells critics to ‘get a life’ after dominating girls’ high school track and field state championship for second year straight

A transgender athlete told her booing critics to “get a life” after dominating the girls’ Washington state track high school championship for the second year in a row — prompting the

runner-up to receive praise from the crowd and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines. Verónica Garcia, 17, won the Class 2A 400-meter dash by nearly a second at Mount Tahoma High School on

Saturday — a year after becoming the state’s first trans athlete to win a state title, according to the Seattle Times. The East Valley High School athlete had been heckled throughout the day

and faced open criticism from attendees and competitors. At the warm-up for the race, a man near the starting blocks wore a shirt that read, “Save women’s sports” — and yelled “Let’s go,

girls!” and “Girls’ race!” repeatedly, according to the outlet. An opposing relay team from Tumwater was also seen wearing black T-shirts that read “Keep Women’s Sports Female” before and

after the race. EXPLORE MORE Later, as the medal ceremony was underway, the crowd greeted every athlete with roaring cheers until Garcia took the podium and received a round of boos for the

second year straight. “I’ll be honest, I kind of expect it,” Garcia told the outlet. “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.” “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,” she added. West Valley junior Lauren Matthew came in second place to Garcia in the 400m for the second year in a row. Matthew was

later seen with a sign that read “Washington State Track and Field Real Girls 2A 400m Champion,” and even received praise from former NCAA swimmer and women’s sports activist Riley Gaines.

“Update from Lauren Matthew, the real state champ!” Gaines posted on X. Following the preliminary on Friday, Matthew aired her concerns about competing against Garcia. “I shouldn’t have to

push myself to the point of where I’m about to, like, die in order to win,” Matthew told the Spokesman-Review. “I know I’m gonna push myself to keep going, but I don’t want a man pushing me

to have to go.” She and her West Valley teammate Quincy Andrews, who placed fifth in the 400m, were at the podium Saturday, according to the Spokesman-Review. The outlet also reported that

when Garcia’s name was called out for taking first place, some people in the crowd chanted Matthew’s name. The West Valley teammates said going up against Garcia sucked the life out of the

competition for them — with Matthew adding it would be nearly impossible to run as fast as someone “who’s biologically just going to be better than we are,” the Spokesman-Review reported.

Andrews said Matthew “should be winning state” because “she’s the best woman.” “She should have won state last year, and that’s taken away from her, which isn’t fair,” Andrew told the

outlet. Both girls said they feel Garcia being allowed to compete against them overshadows their hard work and accomplishments. “I feel like, instead of people talking about our success,

they talk about the success I had while racing a biological male, like, oh, I got second to a male, or, ‘Lauren did this,’” Matthew said. “It’s not talking about my accomplishment,

personally, it’s about I did this because he did this, so I feel like I wouldn’t be talked about if he wasn’t there.” Matthew and Andrews’ feelings were echoed by four women outside the

stadium, handing out rubber bracelets and signs that read, “Save women’s sports!” “We’re standing up for the girls, because girls deserve fair sports,” Dawn Land, who organized the protest,

told the outlet. Garcia’s win on Saturday comes after high school female athletes from across the US have begun protesting trans athletes competing against them. Also on Saturday, two high

school athletes in Oregon refused to share the podium with a transgender competitor at the state’s track and field championships. START YOUR DAY WITH ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW Morning Report

delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. THANKS FOR SIGNING UP! In May, 16-year-old high schooler Reese Hogan finished second to a trans athlete in California’s CIF Southern

Section Finals triple jump competition — but stepped up to the first-place spot on the podium after her competitor stepped down. And in April, women’s fencer Stephanie Turner took a knee

rather than competing with a trans person during a Maryland match, and was put on a year-long probation by USA Fencing for the move.