High school track star appears to give ‘thumbs-down’ after she’s pushed out of state champs by transgender competitor: ‘Cheated’
A transgender athlete took dwelling a second-place medal in an important excessive school track and discipline competitors in California over the weekend, sparking fierce backlash — because the fourth-place medalist appeared to give a thumbs-down on the podium.
Athena Ryan, a junior from Sonoma Academy, claimed the silver medal within the varsity lady’s 1,600-meter run in the course of the North Coast Meet of Champions of California finals on Saturday.
Ryan, who’s a transgender feminine, now qualifies for the California Interscholastic Federation State Track & Field Championships subsequent week after ending within the high three.
The excessive school track star who claimed fourth place — dropping a shot to compete on the state championships — appeared to give a thumbs down to spectators in the course of the podium placement ceremony in Dublin, California.
Adeline Johnson, a senior at Branson High School, is seen on video waving to the group earlier than showing to make the sad gesture.
It is unclear who Johnson was giving the thumbs-down to or why, however the clip, posted on Twitter by the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) on Sunday, shortly collected over one million views and a flurry of assist for the track star snubbed out of an opportunity to compete additional.
“As a former CA state champion high jumper, I think this is complete and utter nonsense. I’m embarrassed for our state and feel sorry for the girls who were cheated in the process,” person Darren Marble tweeted.
The Post has reached out to Branson High School and Sonoma Academy for remark.
ICONS, which describes itself as a community of ladies athletes and our supporters advocating for female-protected classes in sport, mistakenly refers to Ryan as a “trans-identifying male” in its tweet, because the athlete is a trans-identifying feminine.
Meanwhile, in the course of the track meet, protesters have been seen holding indicators saying “protect female sports” earlier than they clashed with safety on the stadium and have been faraway from the grounds, in accordance to the group.
Video shared on its Twitter account captures a spectator confronting protesters holding a banner studying, “Protect women’s sports.”
The lady is seen yelling, “That is disgusting. I find that f–king offensive,” earlier than shifting alongside.
Another video from the track meet tweeted by activist group WomanAreReal captures the second safety chased down the protesters and eliminated them from the world.
“They’re kicking us out because we care about women and girls,” a protester proclaims because the group was escorted off the grounds.
A safety guard was heard responding, “That’s not what we’re doing. I’m an activist myself. You can’t do that.”
Ryan — who completed with a 4:55.91 run time — hopes to “have fun” on the State Championship subsequent week.
“I dropped like 17 seconds on my season’s best in the past two weeks. After last weekend, I didn’t think I could run low 5s again. I was just coming here trying to break 5 – just glad I finished it out,” Ryan told MileSplit after the race.
The California Interscholastic Federation enacted its ‘Gender Identity Participation’ guidelines in 2013, stating, “All students should have the opportunity to participate in CIF athletics and/or activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity.”
The guidelines additionally state that student-athletes “will participate in programs consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed.”
Once granted eligibility, student-athletes usually are not required to renew every school yr.
In April, transgender runner Glenique Frank beat almost 14,000 ladies within the feminine class of the London Marathon and got here below intense scrutiny.
“Nearly 14,000 actual females suffered a worse finish position bc of [Frank],” two-time Olympian Mara Yamauchi tweeted after Frank’s win.
The transgender runner has since provided to return her medal over the outrage.
“If they really think I’ve stolen the place [of a female runner], I don’t mind giving the medal back, because I’ll run again next year for charity,” Frank completely informed The Post.
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