By Hannah Nightingale – The Postmillennial
A trans-identified male runner blew away female competitors at a Portland, Oregon track meet on Wednesday, lining the athlete up to compete in the girls’ varsity track and field championship on Thursday.
10th grader Aayden Gallagher took first place in the 400m and second in the 200m at the Portland Interscholastic League Championship Semi-Finals, qualifying the athlete to compete in the finals at Lincoln High School, according to the Daily Mail
A top-two finish in either of the two races on Thursday will qualify Gallagher for the Oregon State Championships.
Under Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) policies, students are allowed to “participate for the athletic or activity program of their consistently asserted gender identity.”
In the 200m race where Gallagher placed second, the athlete ran a time of 24.49 seconds, being beaten by Roosevelt High School sophomore Aster Jones with a time of 24.32 seconds.
In the 400m race, Gallagher came in first with a 56.14 second time, with Roosevelt High School junior Ellie Heslam finishing second with a time of 56.37 seconds.
Gallagher’s inclusion in the women’s division drew scrutiny in April after footage of the sophomore running at the Sherwood Need for Speed Classic went viral, showing Gallagher finishing well in front of the female athletes in a heat at the meet.
Speaking with the McDaniel High School’s newspaper, Gallagher’s school, the athlete said last year that Gallagher would be pursuing taking hormones.
“I feel like it’ll make me a lot more confident,” the then-freshman said.
“Because right now I’m just going to keep on getting more and more masculine. More facial hair, stuff like that. And I don’t want that. Estrogen and other hormones and getting vocal training would make me a lot happier and more confident.”