A 14-year-old girl has bravely shared her disappointment and anger over losing a track meet to a transgender athlete.
Annaleigh Wilson, a freshman at Eastmount High in Washington state, finished in second place at the Cashmere Junior Olympics regional 1,600-meter track meet on May 18, losing to a transgender female athlete from Liberty Bell High School. Source One reported this at the time.
She and her parents have since spoken out about the disadvantages she and other biological women faced during the invitation-only competition, with Annaleigh sharing her story at a dinner on September 22.
The teen broke down in tears as she recounted what happened that day, and the vitriol she and her parents have faced since they spoke.
She said the competition is a “pretty big deal” and is “basically the championships for our region,” and she had no idea she would face a transgender athlete at the event.
Annaleigh Wilson, a freshman at Eastmount High in Washington state, spoke at a recent dinner about the disappointment and anger she felt when she lost a track meet to a transgender athlete
“I heard this was happening all over the country, but I never expected to experience it firsthand,” Wilson told a crowd of more than 500 adults.
She then said that she still didn’t even realize she was facing a transgender athlete when she took her starting position.
“When all the runners lined up to race, I noticed that this athlete was built very differently from all the other girls, but I didn’t think much of it because we were at the starting line and about to race. ‘
It was only after Wilson finished in second place, seven seconds ahead of the transgender athlete, that she discovered what had happened.
She described hearing “a commotion of upset adults and children” while she was on stage.
“Then I learned that the athlete standing next to me on the first-place podium was a biological boy,” Wilson said.
“My heart sank and I felt extremely discouraged,” she said.
“I felt like all the hard work I put in all year didn’t matter and it would just be forgotten,” Wilson said through tears.
Wilson placed second at the Cashmere Junior Olympics regional 1600-meter track meet on May 18, losing seven seconds to a transgender female athlete
After the meeting, Wilson said she and her family “talked about how unfair this was,” not because she came second, but because “racing boys against girls at this level of competition is not right and it’s not fair.”
“All those biological girls standing there next to me had worked just as hard as I had all season, but at that moment our hard work and talent didn’t matter.”
“Our women’s voices need to be heard because we are the ones personally affected by this,” she continued, before describing the hate she and her parents have received for speaking out.
“Adults attacked my family and me for standing up for fairness and protection of biological girls in sports,” Wilson alleged.
“My family and I have been told by adults that we are transphobic, that I am a sore loser and that I value winning over human life.
“We were also told that it will be our fault and that we will be the ones responsible if this transgender athlete takes his own life, and then I was told that I’m just not good enough, and that’s why I came second.
“But I feel like the same people who attack female athletes for speaking out don’t care about the mental toll and struggles this puts on female athletes as well,” she said.
“These words have touched me and it hurts immensely to hear all these things, because I and my family are among the kindest people, who strive to love everyone and do what is right.”
Wilson went on to say that she has suffered anxiety and panic attacks as a result of the vitriol, and that she has “proven the truth to those who say I’m not good enough by training even harder.”
But, she said, “what hurts the most is that no matter how hard I train or how hard I push myself, the chances of me beating a guy are slim.”
Wilson said she didn’t realize she would be dealing with a transgender athlete, who she noticed was “built very differently from all the other girls” on the starting line.
Wilson concluded her short speech by saying, “Having boys participate in girls’ sports doesn’t work and it’s not fair.”
She said she hopes adults will step up and “do what’s right to keep women’s sports fair and safe for biological girls.”
“I hope we can find a solution for all athletes to compete fairly and safely, because at the age of 14, even I could see that the current rules don’t work for biological girls or transgender athletes,” Wilson said.
The Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction currently orders public schools to allow students to participate in physical education and athletics that correspond with their gender identity, Source One reports.
Wilson’s parents, Elizabeth and Brendan, now say they are trying to get the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association — which governs interscholastic athletics — to change who is eligible for these invitational meets.
“We don’t want hatred for this child. It’s a child,’ Elizabeth told Source One after the meeting. “But at the same time, I just want to know how can we also protect our child?
“We want sports to be fair,” she said. ‘Our daughter puts a lot into everything she does in the field of sports.’
The family has since received support from former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, who made a name for herself by speaking out against transgender athletes competing against biological women.
She praised Wilson at the dinner last month for her courage in standing up for what she believes in, previously telling Fox News that she is “the rightful winner” who “deserves to be considered and called a champion.”