The California Interscholastic Federation crowned two champions in a pair of events at Saturday’s state high school track and field meet when transgender athlete AB Hernandez placed first in the high jump and triple jump – and finished second in the long jump.
Hernandez shared the podium with her cisgender competitors following a rule change enacted last week that allowed athletes assigned female at birth to receive medals based on where they would have finished if a transgender athlete had not competed.
The awards ceremonies after the events did not produce any protests or disruptions – according to New York Times reporting from the meet in Clovis, California – as some had feared if Hernandez won a state title.
Hernandez and Brooke White of River City High School celebrated on the podium after the long jump as they ‘put their arms around each other, held their medals out from their chests and smiled for photos.’
Despite isolated protests outside and inside the stadium, cheers largely drowned them out, the Times reported.
Hernandez also was part of a three-way tie for first in the high jump after all three competitors cleared the same height.
The rule change was made after President Donald Trump demanded that Hernandez – a 16-year-old junior at Jurupa Valley High School in Riverside County – not be allowed to compete in girls track and field events at the state meet. Trump threatened to withhold federal funds to the state if it did not comply with an executive order he signed Feb. 5 seeking to bar transgender student athletes from playing women’s sports.
State athletics officials drafted the new rule to allow additional female athletes to take part in events in which a transgender athlete was competing.
‘The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete while complying with California law and Education Code,’ the federation said in a statement.
