The symbolic gesture on the medals stand at a high school track and field meet in California drew applause from the crowd and praise on X from female sports advocate Riley Gaines.
(LifeSiteNews) -- A high school female athlete stood atop a podium to unofficially claim first place after taking second to a gender-confused male competitor this past weekend.
Reese Hogan, 16, came in second in the triple jump during a track and field event in southern California on Saturday. She finished a distant four feet behind AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley. Hernandez also won the girls’ long jump event.
Hogan, Hernandez, and the third-place finisher stood on the podium after the event. But when the ceremony was over, Hogan, who had worn a “Protect Girls Sports” shirt to a previous meet on May 10, hopped back on the podium where Hernandez had stood.
While she did not receive a first-place medal, the move was a symbolic gesture of her disagreement with Hernandez’s involvement.
“When the boy got off the podium, she assumed her rightful spot as champion. The crowd erupts with applause,” female sports advocate Riley Gaines posted on X about the situation while praising Hogan.
Hernandez has drawn national media attention in recent weeks after defending his performance in an interview after a meet where parents from competing schools shouted at him during a meet at Yorba Linda High School.
“I’m still a child, you’re an adult, and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person,” he said. “Now you have no proof that I can’t be beat.”
Gaines unleashed on Hernandez and the state’s liberal governor, Gavin Newsom, in another X post for allowing him to compete against Hogan and female athletes.
“The boy standing atop the podium holding up a ‘number 1’ is a fraud enabled by @CIFSS, @CA_Dem, & @CAgovernor,” she wrote.
Sports Illustrated has referred to Hernandez, a junior, as an “outspoken transgender athlete competing in girls track and field.”
It has also reported that he holds the state's “top marks in long jump (20 feet, 1.5 inches) and triple jump (41-4) in girls track and field.”
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) governs high school athletics in the state. Per Sports Illustrated, the group has issued a statement affirming that Hernandez will be allowed to compete in events “consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records.”
But several high schools have spoken out about the matter.
Principals at JSerra Catholic, Orange Lutheran, and Crean Lutheran issued a joint statement on May 9 opposing Hernandez’s inclusion.
“Unfortunately, in three of these events our young women will be competing against a young man (who identifies as a female). He will likely dominate the competition and handily win all three events. To be clear, we hold no malice toward this particular student. We do feel compelled, however, to take a stand for the right, duties and dignity of our young women,” it said.
