A trans-identified male student has secured a place in the upcoming Oregon state championships after besting his female competitors in the finals of the Portland Interscholastic League Championships last night. Aayden Gallagher, a boy who identifies as a girl, took first place in the 400m and 200m run.
Gallagher first came under scrutiny in April after footage began to circulate of him leaving his female competitors in the dust during Heat 1 of the Sherwood Need for Speed Classic in Sherwood, Oregon. The footage was first posted by independent news outlet Reduxx, and was later taken down after an individual from Sherwood sent a complaint in to X.
Days later, Gallagher won two more girls track races, seizing first place in the 200m and 400m varsity during a track meet at Roosevelt High School.
On May 7, Gallagher was cleared to participate in the Portland Interscholastic League Championship semi-finals, running in both the 200m and 400m girls varsity races and taking second and first place respectively.
The placing qualified him to run in the finals, which were held at Lincoln High School last night.
Gallagher dominated both the 200m and 400m races, securing a surprise victory in the 200m against Roosevelt High School’s Aster Jones. Jones is considered a rising star in Oregon’s track and field scene, and has won first place in every other metered race she participated in this year.
In shocking footage that was recorded by The Publica’s Chelly Bouferrache, Gallagher was seen sweeping past Jones in the final stretch, with the girl looking like she was actively struggling to keep the scant lead she had maintained for the majority of the race.
Gallagher’s success at the PIL Championship Finals last night means he has now qualified to run in the Oregon state championships that will be held later on this month.
Speaking to The Publica under the condition of anonymity, a Portland-area middle school track coach and the parent of a female competitor in the district called Gallagher’s participation in female sports “disappointing and frustrating.”
She added: “My daughter has been running track since she was seven years old and to work so hard for so many years, for it to be taken away by a boy that cannot get attention any other way than to run against girls.”
The coach also slammed the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) for maintaining a gender self-identification policy that she feels disadvantages female athletes instead of creating a third category for trans runners.
“I think the allowance for this to occur is based on politics and gender ideology. It is frustrating that the OSAA supports this. Why can’t OSAA make a category for trans/non-binary athletes as other organizations do? It is easy to make a [separate] category.”
