Biological Male Wins Girls Track Championship in Portland

The same Oregon high school that came under fire last year for allowing a transgender athlete to compete against girls continues to blow away the competition one year later.

Ada Gallagher, running as a 10th-grader at McDaniel High School in Portland, finished in first place in 200M and 400M races during the 6A-1 Portland Interscholastic League Championship in 2024.

Now an 11th-grader, Gallagher was back on the track for a Portland Interscholastic League meet at his home track, where he was spotted blowing out the competition, especially in the 400M, where he finished more than seven seconds better than the rest of the field.

Gallagher finished at 57.62 in the 400M, with Franklin High School's Kinnaly Souphanthong coming in second at 1:05.72. Gallagher's teammate, Quinnan Schaefer, was behind Souphanthong at 1:07.13.

Then, in the 200M race, Gallagher finished in first place at 25.76, followed by teammate Addyson Skyles at 27.31.

Both times for Gallagher were season records.

As the video of the races began to circulate on social media, commenters began to speak their piece.

"That experience must be so demoralizing for those girls," one X user said. "…You'll look back later and be much more infuriated, especially if you have children of your own." Another added, "The girls should all just start refusing to run and it will soon end."

The Oregon School Activities Association, the governing body for the Portland Interscholastic League, has a gender identity participation policy that "allows students to participate for the athletic or activity program of their consistently asserted gender identity while providing a fair and safe environment for all students."

"As with Rule 8.2 regarding Duration of Eligibility / Graduation, rules such as this one promote harmony and fair competition among member schools by maintaining equality of eligibility and increase the number of students who will have an opportunity to participate in interscholastic activities," the rulebook adds.

President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14201, better known as "Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports," was signed to "protect female student athletes, in the women’s category, from having to ‘compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males.’"

When Trump signed the order last month, Oregon Republicans were delighted, with House Minority Leader Christine Drazan saying she would introduce a bill to rewrite policies in high school athletics.

"Women have fought for — and earned — respect and support for themselves in sports and have made incredible gains in doing so. We must defend that progress and stand up for fairness." Drazan said in a statement released on National Girls and Women’s in Sports Day, per Oregon Public Broadcasting.