Verónica Garcia, a trans athlete, won her first 400-meter track and field state championship in Washington in 2024, and this year, she secured another victory, becoming a state champion in the girls’ 2A 400-meter dash for the second time in a row.
17-year-old Garcia, an East Valley High School senior, beat her own time from last year, finishing the race in 55.70 seconds.
According to the Seattle Times, she’s the first ever trans athlete to win this title.
Her participation in the competition was met with booing from the crowd who yelled, “Let’s go girls,” and “Girls’ race.”
Before the race, a man was spotted wearing a T-shirt that read “Save women’s sports.” Another person’s T-shirt read, “Keep Women’s Sports Female.”
During the medal ceremony, the ret of the competitors were cheered on while Garcia got booed by the crowd.
Reacting to the reactions from the crowd, Garcia said, “I’ll be honest, I kind of expect it,” according to The New York Post.
“But it maybe didn’t have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in, I wanted to give up, but angry as in, I’m going to push.
“I’m going to put this in the most PG-13 way, I’m just going to say it’s a damn shame they don’t have anything else better to do. I hope they get a life. But oh well. It just shows who they are as people.”
Lauren Matthew, a West Valley junior, finished second in 56.75 seconds.
While Matthew and teammate Quincy Andrews, who placed fifth, were absent from the award podium after the race, the crowd chanted her name when Garcia posed atop the podium.
Update from Lauren Matthew, the real state champ!🏆
XX≠XY https://t.co/XvC9iVbu4S pic.twitter.com/RHoh44uJYO
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 31, 2025
Andrews also shared her discontent, saying Matthew “should be winning state” because “she’s the best woman.”
“She should have won state last year, and that’s taken away from her, which isn’t fair,” she told Seattle Times.
Washington has allowed transgender student-athletes to compete based on gender identity since 2007. However, following President Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sport,” federal investigations have targeted inclusive policies, including one in Tumwater School District.
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