Transgender runner Veronica Garcia was treated to boos and heckling after winning the girls’ 400-meter dash at the 2A Washington State Championship on Saturday.
Garcia, a biological male, crossed the line with a time of 55.70 to take first place.
While their closest competitors were cheered, Garcia was booed loudly after taking the podium.
Check it out in the video below:
Veronica Garcia Admits To Anger, But Not The Intended Anger
Veronica Garcia knew what was coming, having been approached by a man wearing an American flag-themed shirt reading “Save women’s sports” during warmups. The male chanted “Let’s go girls!” and kept making it clear that it was a “girls’ race.”
“I’ll be honest, I kind of expect it,” Garcia said of the boos, per the Seattle Times. “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.”
The 17-year-old East Valley runner won last year’s championship with a time of 55.75, becoming the first transgender athlete to win a state track title in Washington State.
They repeated the feat this year, finishing ahead of second-place finisher Lauren Matthew by nearly a full second and beating last year’s time by .05 seconds.
“I’m really proud of myself,” Garcia said. “I did what I came to do, and that’s good enough for me.”
