CLOVIS, Calif. — A transgender athlete bested the competitors Saturday on the California highschool observe and subject championship to take dwelling her first gold within the ladies’ excessive soar at a meet that has stirred controversy and drawn nationwide consideration.
AB Hernandez — a trans pupil who on Friday completed forward in qualifying occasions for the women’ excessive soar, lengthy soar and triple soar — competed underneath a brand new rule change that could be the primary of its type nationally by a highschool sports activities governing physique.
On Saturday, she completed the excessive soar with a mark of 5 toes, 7 inches, with no failed makes an attempt. The co-winner, Jillene Wetteland, additionally cleared the bar at that peak after a failed try. The 2 shared the first-place win and the rostrum due to a brand new coverage introduced by the California Interscholastic Federation earlier this week in response to Hernandez’s success during which the federation allowed an extra pupil to compete and medal within the occasions the place she certified.
Hernandez positioned second within the ladies’ lengthy soar and was a prime contender within the to-be-completed ladies’ triple soar.
Olympians Marion Jones and Tara Davis-Woodhall beforehand set state championship data within the lengthy soar in 1993 and 2017, respectively, each surpassing 22 toes. This 12 months’s winner, Loren Webster, topped 21 toes, with Hernandez trailing by just a few inches.
The 2-day championship kicked off Friday within the sweltering warmth at a highschool close to Fresno, and extra scorching temperatures adopted Saturday for the finals.
The environment was comparatively quiet regardless of critics — together with dad and mom, conservative activists and President Donald Trump — calling for Hernandez to be barred from competing with ladies. Some critics wore pink bracelets and T-shirts that learn “Save Ladies’ Sports activities.”
Throughout Friday’s qualifying occasions, an plane circled above the stadium for greater than an hour, carrying a banner that learn: “No Boys in Ladies’ Sports activities!” Two teams — the Impartial Council on Girls’s Sports activities and Girls Are Actual — that oppose transgender athletes collaborating in girls’s sports activities took credit score for flying the banner.
