Female track & field competitors refuse to stand on winners' podium with transgender athlete in Oregon

Two female high school athletes in Oregon refused to stand on the podium during a medal ceremony after a biologically male athlete, who identifies as transgender, competed among the girls for high jump at the state championship.

Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School chose not to stand in their designated podium spots next to the athlete from Ida B. Wells High School, who tied for fifth place in the event. Anderson finished third and Eckard finished fourth, both ahead of the biological male.

The two girls faced the opposite direction as medals were handed out. Video shows an official gesturing for them to move, prompting Eckard and Anderson to walk off the podium and stand off to the side instead.

The transgender athlete previously competed in the boys’ category in both 2023 and 2024.

Former NCAA swimmer and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines reacted to the incident on X, writing that “girls have had enough.”

Speaking to Fox News, Anderson defended their actions, saying, "We didn’t refuse to stand on the podium out of hate. We did it because someone has to say this isn’t right. In order to protect the integrity and fairness of girls sports we must stand up for what is right.”

The incident comes as Oregon faces a Title IX discrimination complaint filed by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) over its law allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports. The complaint, submitted to the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on May 27, comes as the office is already investigating high school sports leagues in several Democrat-led states, including California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Minnesota, over similar concerns.