Trans Athlete Defends Back-to-Back Girls’ High School Track Championship Wins, Tells Critics to ‘Get a Life’

“Get a life,” Verónica Garcia shot back at her detractors after clinching the Class 2A 400-meter dash title at the Washington state high school track championship for the second consecutive year. The 17-year-old athlete faced a chorus of boos from the crowd as she accepted her medal, yet remained undeterred by the hostility.

Garcia, representing East Valley High School, finished nearly a second ahead of her nearest competitor at Mount Tahoma High School on Saturday. This victory marks her second year as the first transgender athlete to win a state title in Washington, according to local reports.

Throughout the event, Garcia endured jeers and open criticism from spectators and fellow competitors. A man near the starting blocks sported a shirt proclaiming “Save women’s sports” while repeatedly shouting phrases like “Let’s go, girls!” and “Girls’ race!”

In a show of solidarity, an opposing relay team from Tumwater donned black T-shirts emblazoned with “Keep Women’s Sports Female” before and after their races.

During the medal ceremony, cheers erupted for each athlete until Garcia took the podium, where she was met with boos once again. “I’ll be honest, I kind of expect it,” she remarked. “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.”

Garcia continued, “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.”

West Valley junior Lauren Matthew finished second in the 400m for the second year running. After the race, she held a sign that read “Washington State Track and Field Real Girls 2A 400m Champion,” earning praise from former NCAA swimmer and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines, who tweeted about Matthew’s performance.

Matthew expressed her frustrations leading up to the race, stating, “I shouldn’t have to push myself to the point of where I’m about to, like, die in order to win.” She emphasized that competing against Garcia felt unfair. “I know I’m gonna push myself to keep going, but I don’t want a man pushing me to have to go.”

Teammate Quincy Andrews, who placed fifth in the same event, echoed Matthew’s sentiments, asserting that Matthew deserved to win state. “She should have won state last year, and that’s taken away from her, which isn’t fair,” Andrews said.

Both athletes conveyed that Garcia’s participation overshadowed their achievements. “I feel like, instead of people talking about our success, they talk about the success I had while racing a biological male,” Matthew lamented. “It’s not talking about my accomplishment; it’s about I did this because he did this.”

Outside the stadium, four women distributed rubber bracelets and signs reading “Save women’s sports!” in support of their cause. Dawn Land, who organized the protest, stated, “We’re standing up for the girls because girls deserve fair sports.”

Garcia's victory comes amid growing protests from female athletes across the United States regarding transgender athletes competing in women's categories. In Oregon, two high school athletes recently refused to share a podium with a transgender competitor at their state championships.

Earlier this year, 16-year-old Reese Hogan finished second to a trans athlete in California but stepped up to first place after her competitor declined to accept the award. Additionally, women’s fencer Stephanie Turner faced probation for kneeling instead of competing against a transgender opponent during a match in Maryland.