A transgender athlete continued to spark controversy as she leapt to victory and forced her female rivals to share the podium at the California state championships Saturday.
AB Hernandez, who is a biological male, was flanked by an entourage of officials as she and her mother were escorted into the California Interscholastic Federation state finals, where the teenager competed in three events in defiance of Donald Trump and his executive order.
The 17-year-old triggered a fresh wave of outrage from protestors and parents as she claimed tied-first place in the varsity high jump final, forcing female competitors Lelani Laruelle and Jillene Wetteland to share their spot atop the podium with her.
The trio of competitors cleared the 5′ 7″ mark to split the gold medal three ways, forcing Julia Teven to settle for third.
Meanwhile, Hernandez could only manage a second-place finish in the long jump event. She once again shared her spot on the podium after her jump of 20′ 8¾” fell short of the winning 21′ 0¼” mark set by Loren Webster.
The dramatic row surrounding Hernandez’s participation has sparked fury across the US, with Trump even threatening to hold back ‘large scale Federal Funding’ and blasting the state governor who he claims has continued to ‘ILLEGALLY allow “MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS”‘.
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez defied Donald Trump’s order to compete at the California Interscholastic Federation state finals in Clovis on Saturday
Hernandez claimed tied-first place in the varsity high jump final, forcing female competitors Lelani Laruelle and Jillene Wetteland to share their spot atop the podium
Hernandez was escorted into the stadium by an entourage of championship officials
In previous meets, Hernandez has faced controversy from her own competitors – with a teenage girl they beat to first place waited for her rival to get down from the top of the podium before posing up there herself.
Meanwhile, her glamorous mother, Nereyda, has been confronted by angry parents whose daughters are losing out on gold medals as a result.
And ahead of Saturday’s championships, Hernandez and her escort traipsed past protestors who had once again descended on the state finals to voice their outrage against the controversial young athlete’s participation.
The demonstrators, who were forced to carry out their protest outside the stadium due to the CIF’s rules, carried signs bearing messages of ‘NO DUDES IN GIRLS SPACES’ and ‘NO CHILD IS BORN IN THE WRONG BODY.’
Despite the CIF’s ban on banners and signs inside the ground, the message of the protestors could be heard over the fence – reaching the ears of Hernandez as she began the long jump, her first event of the day.
‘No guys in girls sports,’ one man’s shout was blasted through his megaphone, as Hernandez made her first jump, which she shockingly scratched.
Organizers were forced to intervene pausing the event for five minutes as announcer called for ‘respect’ over the tannoy.
‘Please show respect, be respectful, they said. ‘We will continue to pause if this behavior continues.’
Protestors once again descended on the California Interscholastic Federation state finals
The 17-year-old athlete finished second in the long jump with a mark of 20′ 8¾”
Hernandez shared her second-pace finish with Brooke White (second left)
Donald Trump had ordered California authorities to block her from competing in the meet
However, protestor Beth Bourne, 55, from Davis, California, insisted that her outrage wasn’t directed at Hernandez, but rather her mother.
‘I feel huge compassion for this young man, this boy, he’s 17 years old,’ Bourne, a member of the ‘Moms for Liberty Yolo County’ group, told DailyMail.com. ‘He has a mother who’s been duped to believe that her child could be born in the wrong body.
‘Many of these feminine boys could grow up to be gay, healthy men. AB Hernandez enjoys wearing makeup, long hair, dresses.
‘His mother believes that rather than letting her son grow up to be a gay boy, that he could be a trans woman, right? So if you have a mother who is affirming a young boy to believe that he could grow up to be a woman.
Bourne said that she had been a lifelong Democrat until turning red in last year’s election after local Democratic groups failed to support her cause.
‘We want to protect his body,’ she added. ‘We do not want him to be a medical experiment. We don’t want him to lose his healthy sexual organs. We don’t want him to put on estrogen or puberty blockers that will sterilize him.
‘It’s an unfolding medical scandal and it’s okay to say that every child is perfect in their body. It is not transphobic. It is not hateful. It is not bigoted.’
Hernandez sealed her place in three finals yesterday after coming out on top in all of her preliminary heats – despite the shocking scenes outside the stadium.
Hernandez cleared the 5′ 7″ mark to split the gold medal three ways in high jump
Many demonstrators carried placards with messages against trans athletes’ participation in women’s sports
Protestor Beth Bourne, 55, from Davis, California, told DailyMail.com that she had ‘compassion’ for Hernandez
Demonstrators continued their protest outside the stadium as the competition got underway
As protesters descended on the preliminary events police were dramatically called in – with protesters ‘turning physical’ and even using pepper spray.
They arrested one alleged LGBTQ activist, who is accused of shattering a car window with a flag pole – as Sergeant Chris Hutchison of Clovis Police Department said he doesn’t ‘have room for violence.’
Videos of the alleged attack show a masked protestor with a trans flag walking up to a car before thrusting it through the window. The person in the car claims that they responded with pepper spray.
As the girls took to the field, a plane even flew a banner across the high school track-and-field championships stating ‘No boys in girls sports’. While the girl competed she was heckled by gathered activists and others wore ‘Save Girls´ Sports’ T-shirts.
In February, Trump signed an executive order banning trans athletes from women’s sports called ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’.
The pledge was one of Trump’s most popular rallying cries during the 2024 election campaign and his move to follow through on his vow was celebrated by many sports fans.
Ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the Department of Homeland Security has been ordered to ‘reject any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying as women athletes’.
In March, World Athletics followed the President’s example as president Sebastian Coe approved bombshell new measures to protect female athletes, introducing cheek swabbing to determine if an athlete is a biological woman.
Hernandez’s glamorous mother, who has also been confronted by angry parents whose daughters are losing out on gold medals, yesterday responded to the dramatic onslaught. She slammed the President’s ‘weapons of harm’ and saying her daughter had become the ‘target of a national campaign of cruelty’.
Hernandez has previously faced controversy from her own competitors – with a teenage girl they beat to first place waited for her rival to get down from the top of the podium before posing up there herself.