After Upsetting Comments, Trans Track Athletes Withdraw From Race in California

From continuous battles for securing equal rights to constantly dealing with prevailing stereotypes, the LGBTQ+ community has come a long way. However, the debates around inclusion and diversity are still running in grey areas. Along similar lines, once again, the conjectures around the inclusion of trans athletes made it to the headlines. On 26th May, two transgender female track-and-field athletes withdrew their participation from the state championships in the wake of the constant scrutiny they received.

Last Friday, California-based sprinters, Athena Ryan and Lorelei Barrett didn’t show up for the State Preliminary Track and Field Championship and cited concerns regarding their cognitive well-being. 

Teen Transgender athletes were no-shows for the state track meet

Athena Ryan from Sonoma Academy-Santa Rosa, and Lorelei Barrett from Sherman Oaks, Buckley made it to the preliminaries after qualifying for the races at their respective sectional meets. While Ryan bagged second place in the junior category, Barrett clinched the third position at the Southern Section Masters event. 

Nonetheless, Ryan’s qualification for state championships was met with criticism from anti-transgender activists. Whereas, Barrett became a subject of perusal of the spectators who were in attendance during the sectional meet. As a result, both high school athletes were a no-show at the girl’s 1600-meter run at Buchanan High in Clovis, California.

As per the report of The Los Angeles Times, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) also raised concerns on the subject and added, “The CIF strongly denounces discriminatory or harassing behaviors that impact our student-athletes.” More so, both the sprinters even received a hoard full of criticism from various organizations advocating for female-protected categories.

What actually triggered the athletes’ withdrawal from the races?

After standing at the receiving end of the criticism for a week, Ryan and Barrett finally decided to withdraw their participation from the championships. The Los Angeles Times conceded, “Both were the subject of thousands of comments critiquing their gender identity.“

Read More: How Does Michael Phelps’ Physical Superiority Aspect Factor into the Recent Trans Athletes’ Debate?

However, this is not the first time that the sporting realm has witnessed such debates. In 2019, the track-and-field athlete, Caster Semenya’s hyperandrogenism became the topic of controversy after the Apex court ruled that for Semenya to continue her participation, she would be required to take medication to control her testosterone levels. Thus, amidst the controversial topic of inclusion and diversity, the question stands, will there ever be any final decree on the participation of trans athletes?

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