TWO Oregon high school athletes made headlines after refusing to share the podium with a transgender athlete.
High school seniors Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckard stepped off the podium during a high jump medal ceremony at their track meet.
Anderson and Eckard stepped off their respective third and fourth-place positions onto the ground behind the podium, Fox News reported.
Anderson said she did it in “protest” of the transgender athlete, who came in fifth place, being allowed to compete.
She alleged that the officials made her and Eckard step to the side after they got off the stand.
“You can see, the official kind of told us, ‘Hey, go over there, if you’re not going to participate, get out of the photos,'” Anderson shared with Laura Ingraham on The Ingraham Angle.
“They asked us to move away from the medal stand, so when they took the photos, we weren’t even in it at all.”
She mentioned that it was her first time competing against a transgender competitor.
“This is the first public stand I have taken on this issue, but I have privately supported all the girls involved with positive messages, commenting on posts, just supporting them and letting them know I’m behind them in any way,” she mentioned.
Anderson said she believes transgender athletes in sports create an “unfair” competition.
“It’s unfair because biological males and biological females compete at such different levels,” she said.
“Allowing a biological male into our competition is taking up space and opportunities from all these hardworking women, such as the girl in ninth who should have placed eighth and had her spot on the podium taken away, along with many others.”
Online, social media users are split about the girls’ actions.
“Oregon girls high jump state championships just finished,” leigh Ann O’Neill, chief of staff for the America First Policy, posted on X.
“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.”
O’Neill shared the video of the award ceremony, leaving some commenters confused as to why the girls protested since the transgender athlete placed lower than them.
“They placed higher than her though?” one commenter wrote.
Letting a biological male into our competition is taking up space and opportunities from all these hardworking women.
Alexa Anderson
“Confused by this.”
Others supported the athletes’ actions and blamed the official for asking them to move.
“They should have stayed where they were and said ‘make me,’” one X user wrote.
“What is the official going to do?”
The Oregon State Athletic Association did not immediately reply to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
