Latest news with #highjump
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Martina Navratilova sends blistering message in defense of high jumpers who protested against a trans rival
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has defended the two athletes at the Oregon high jump state championships who refused to step on the podium after facing a trans rival over the weekend. Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School have been praised as heroes on social media after abandoning the medal ceremony in an apparent protest of a fifth-place finisher, who is reportedly transgender. Reese finished fourth in the state final while Anderson was third. Rather than taking their spots on the podium, footage surfaced on social media that showed the girls turning their backs to the crowd before being ushered away from the ceremony by an official. Navratilova saw the clip and reposted it, saying: 'Women and girls are punished no matter what they do in this misogynistic world…' She then replied to many of her followers who offered their own views about what is becoming a major talking point in school sports. In one notable reply, Navratilova wrote: 'Feminists never asked for this. At least not the great majority of us… never.' The 68-year-old Navratilova, one of the all-time greats in tennis who won 18 major titles in her career, has been a consistent voice in calling for lawmakers to protect women's sports and stop biological men from competing. She has also been a critic of Donald Trump but has lamented hesitancy from the Democrat party in following the lead of Republicans on the issue. In April, she said on X: 'I hate that the Democrats totally failed women and girls on this very clear issue of women's sports being for females only.' Anderson, meanwhile, spoke to Fox News about her decision over the weekend. 'We didn't refuse to stand on the podium out of hate,' she said. '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.' Oregon is one of several states challenging President Donald Trump's 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order, which threatens to deny federal funding to rogue governments. A recent AP-NORC poll found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults think transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls and women's sports at high school, college or professional level. That view was shared by about 9 in 10 Republicans and roughly half of Democrats.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Female Oregon high jumpers' stunning act of defiance after competing with trans rival at state championships
Two female high-jump competitors refused to stand alongside a transgender rival on the podium at this weekend's high school state championships in Oregon. Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School have been praised as heroes on social media after abandoning the medal ceremony in an apparent protest of a fifth-place finisher, who is reportedly transgender. Reese finished fourth in the state final while Anderson was third. Rather than taking their spots on the podium, footage obtained by Fox News showed the girls turning their backs on the crowd before being ushered away from the ceremony by an official. 'Two female athletes in Oregon refused to stand on the podium because a boy was awarded a place. Girls have had enough,' conservative activist Riley Gaines wrote on X. 'Girls have had enough.' Daily Mail has reached out to the Oregon School Activities Association for comment on the controversy. Anderson spoke to Fox News about her decision over the weekend. Oregon girls high jump state championships just finished. 2 of the females refused to step on the podium with the male competitor and an adult official relegated them to the sideline for refusing. THIS MUST END. — Leigh Ann O'Neill (@LaLONeill) May 31, 2025 'We didn't refuse to stand on the podium out of hate,' she said. '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.' Oregon is one of several states challenging President Donald Trump's 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order, which threatens to deny federal funding to rogue governments. A recent AP-NORC poll found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults think transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls and women's sports at the high school, college or professional level. That view was shared by about 9 in 10 Republicans and roughly half of Democrats. The federation announced the change after Trump threatened to pull federal funding from California unless it bars trans female athletes from competing on girls teams. The federation said it decided on the change before then. The U.S. Department of Justice also said it would investigate the federation and the district that includes Hernandez's high school to determine whether they violated federal sex discrimination law. California law allows trans students to compete on sex-segregated sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Statistics on transgender participation in female sports aren't comprehensive. However, in December, NCAA President Charlie Baker testified that fewer than 10 are competing among 500,000 collegiate student athletes in the country. The American Medical Association and American Psychiatric Association have both stated that gender is a spectrum and not a binary structure, as the White House argued in its January 20 executive order 'defending women from gender ideology.'
Fox News
2 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Girls' track and field athletes don't stand on podium next to trans athlete at Oregon state championship
A pair of girls' track and field athletes did not stand on the medal podium alongside a transgender athlete for high jump at the Oregon state championship on Saturday night. Footage obtained by Fox News Digital showed the two high school seniors, Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School, step down from their respective spots on the podium next to a trans athlete who represented Ida B. Wells High School. Eckard, in fourth place, and Anderson, in third, each finished ahead of the trans athlete, who tied for fifth place. But the two females faced the opposite direction as the other competitors received their medals from officials. The footage then showed an official confront the two young women, and gesture for them to move away. Eckard and Anderson were then seen walking away from the podium and standing off to the side. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Oregon School Activities Association for a response. The trans athlete previously competed in the boys' category in 2023 and 2024, Fox News Digital previously reported. Eckard and Anderson were praised for not standing on the podium on social media, and were even shouted out by prominent conservative activist Riley Gaines. Girls and women making symbolic gestures to protest trans inclusion in sports has become a growing trend in 2025. On May 17 at a California track and field sectional final, Reese Hogan of Crean Lutheran High School stepped from the second-place spot onto the first-place medal podium after her trans opponent, AB Hernandez stepped down from it. Hogan's stunt was lauded on social media by Gaines and others. On April 2, footage of women's fencer Stephanie Turner kneeling to protest a trans opponent at a competition in Maryland, and subsequently getting punished for it, went viral and ignited global awareness and scrutiny against USA Fencing. Oregon is one of many Democratic-controlled states that saw transgender athletes compete in girls' track and field championships this weekend, with other highly-publicized incidents taking place in California, Washington, Maine and Minnesota. The America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a nonpartisan research institute, filed a Title IX discrimination complaint against Oregon for its laws that allow biological males to compete in girls' sports on May 27. The complaint was filed to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, which has already launched Title IX investigations against the high school sports leagues in California, Minnesota, Maine and Massachusetts. "Every girl deserves a fair shot – on the field, on the podium, and in life," said Jessica Hart Steinmann, AFPI's executive general counsel and vice chair of the Center for Litigation, in a statement. "When state institutions knowingly force young women to compete against biological males, they're violating federal law and sending a devastating message to female athletes across the country." President Donald Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order on Feb. 5 and his administration has made combating the continued enabling of trans athletes in girls' sports by Democratic states a priority. The U.S. Department of Justice has already launched a lawsuit against Maine for its defiance of Trump's executive order, and the president suggested on Tuesday that federal funding pauses could be coming against California amid the situation involving Hernandez. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
California track-and-field championships draw limited protest over trans student's participation
AB Hernandez reacts after competing in the high jump at the California high school track-and-field championships in Clovis, Calif., Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) CLOVIS, Calif. — A transgender teen will compete in the California high school track-and-field finals on Saturday, one day after advancing in the competition as a protest plane circled above the meet drew national attention, including criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump. AB Hernandez — a trans student who on Friday advanced in the girls high jump, long jump and triple jump — will be in the finals Saturday, competing under a new rule change that may be the first of its kind nationally by a high school sports governing body. The new California Interscholastic Federation announced the new policy earlier this week in response to Hernandez's success. According to the policy, the CIF will let an additional student compete and medal in the events where Hernandez qualified. The two-day championship kicked off in the sweltering heat at high school near Fresno. The atmosphere was relatively quiet Friday despite critics — including parents, conservative activists and President Donald Trump — calling for Hernandez to be barred from girls competition leading up to the meet. There was some pushback Friday. A group of fewer than 10 people gathered outside the stadium ahead of the meet to protest Hernandez's participation. Some of them wore 'Save Girls' Sports' T-shirts. At one point as Hernandez was attempting a high jump, someone in the stands yelled an insult. An aircraft circled above the stadium for more than an hour during the events, carrying a banner that read, 'No Boys in Girls' Sports!' Two groups, the Independent Council on Women's Sports and Women Are Real, that oppose transgender athletes participating in women's sports took credit for flying the banner. Separately, one person was arrested outside the competition on Friday after getting in a confrontation with another protester that turned physical, according to the Clovis Police Department. The rest of the night ran smoothly for Hernandez, who finished the triple jump with a mark close to 41 feet (13 meters), nearly 10 inches (25 centimeters) ahead of her closest competitor, San Francisco Bay Area junior Kira Gant Hatcher. Hernandez also led in the long jump with a mark close to 20 feet (6 meters) to advance to the final. She advanced in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 5 inches (1.7 meters) with ease. She did not address the press. California at center of national debate The CIF rule change reflects efforts to find a middle ground in the debate over trans girls' participation in youth sports. '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,' the group said in a statement after announcing its rule change. A recent AP-NORC poll found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults think transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls and women's sports at the high school, college or professional level. That view was shared by about 9 in 10 Republicans and roughly half of Democrats. The federation announced the rule change after Trump threatened this week to pull federal funding from California unless it bars trans female athletes from competing on girls teams. The CIF said it decided on the change before then. The U.S. Department of Justice also said it would investigate the state federation and the district that includes Hernandez's high school to determine whether they violated federal sex discrimination law by allowing trans girls to compete in girls sports. Some California Republicans also weighed in, with several state lawmakers attending a news conference to criticize the federation for keeping Hernandez in the competition and a Republican gubernatorial candidate planning to attend Saturday's finals. California law allows trans students to compete on sex-segregated sports teams consistent with their gender identity. The federation said the rule would open the field to more 'biological female' athletes. One expert said the change may itself be discriminatory because it creates an extra spot for 'biological female' athletes but not for other trans athletes. The federation did not specify how they define 'biological female' or how they would verify whether a competitor meets that definition. Hernandez told the publication Capital & Main earlier this month that she couldn't worry about critics. 'I'm still a child, you're an adult, and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person,' she said. Another student breaks a record California's state championship stands out from that of other states because of the number of competitors athletes are up against to qualify. The state had the second-largest number of students participating in outdoor track and field in the nation during the 2023-2024 school year, behind Texas, according to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations. Olympians Marion Jones and Tara Davis-Woodhall previously set state championship records in the long jump in 1993 and 2017, respectively, both surpassing 22 feet (6.7 meters). The boys 100-meter dash heats were also a highlight Friday. Junior Jaden Jefferson of De La Salle High School in Concord finished in 10.01 seconds, about .2 seconds faster than a meet record set in 2023. Jefferson's time won't count as a record unless he can replicate his results in the final. Sophie Austin and Jae Hong, The Associated Press
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Hamish Kerr wins men's high jump in latest Diamond League event
New Zealand's Olympic champion Hamish Kerr won the men's high jump at the latest Diamond League event in Morocco this morning - but he's still seeking improvement. Sports Reporter Bridget Tunnicliffe spoke to Lisa Owen. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
