The Championships in California of athlete tracks derive a limited protest against the participation of the trans student

Clovis, California – California's secondary school athletics finals will award an additional medal on Saturday in events where a transgender athlete plots in the first three, a change of rule which could be the first of its kind at a national level by a sports director of secondary school.

The new policy of the California Interscolaire Federation has been written in response to the success of the Junior Lycée Ab Hernandez, a trans student who participates in the height of girls, in long jump and triple jump. She led in the three events after the preliminaries on Friday. The CIF said earlier this week Let an additional student compete And the medal in the events in which Hernandez qualified.

The two -day championship started in the stifling heat in high school near Fresno. The atmosphere was relatively calm on Friday despite the criticisms – including parents, conservative activists and President Donald Trump – calling Hernandez to be prohibited from the competition of girls leading to competition.

There was a repression on Friday. A group of less than 10 people gathered outside the stadium before the competition to protest against Hernandez's participation. Some of them wore t-shirts of “Sports Sports for girls”. At one point while Hernandez tried a height jump, someone in the stands shouted an insult. A plane turned above the stadium for more than an hour during the events, wearing a banner who said: “No boys in sports for girls!”

The rest of the night went well for Hernandez, who finished the triple jump with a brand nearly 41 feet (13 meters), almost 10 inches (25 centimeters) in front of his nearest competitor, the junior Gant Hatcher, junior glove of San Francisco Bay Area.

Hernandez also led in the long jump with a brand nearly 20 feet (6 meters) to go to the final. It advanced in the high jump, giving off 5 feet, 5 inches (1.7 meters) with ease.

She did not approach the press.

The change of CIF rule reflects efforts to find common ground in the debate on the participation of trans girls in sports for young people.

“The CIF appreciates all our students athletes and we will continue to maintain our mission to provide students with the possibility of belonging, connecting and competing while complying with the California law,” the group said in a statement after announcing its change of rule.

A Recent AP-Noc survey have found that around 7 out of 10 American adults think that transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in the sports of girls and women in high school, college or professional level. This point of view was shared by around 9 in 10 Republicans and about half of the Democrats.

The federation announced the change of rule after Trump threatened this week to withdraw federal funding from California unless it does Trans female athletes bars competition in the female teams. The CIF said he had decided to change before that.

The United States Ministry of Justice also said that it would investigate the State Federation and the district which includes the Hernandez high school to determine whether they have violated the federal law on sex discrimination by allowing girls to compete in the sports of girls.

Some California Republicans have also weighed, several state legislators attended a press conference to criticize the Federation for keeping Hernandez in the competition and a candidate of republican governor who plans to attend the final on Saturday.

California's law allows students to compete in sports teams separated by sex in accordance with their gender identity.

The Federation said that the rule would open the ground to more “organic” athletes. An expert said that change could himself be discriminatory because he creates an additional place for “biological women” athletes but not for other trans athletes.

The Federation did not specify how they define “biological women” or how they would check if a competitor responds to this definition.

Hernandez said to the publication capital & Main Earlier this month, she couldn't worry about criticism.

“I am still a child, you are an adult, and so that you are aging like a child shows how you are as a person,” she said.

The California state championship stands out from that of other states due to the number of competitors that athletes are faced with qualifying. The State had the second number of students participating in the country's outdoor athletics during the 2023-2024 school year, behind Texas, according to a National Federation of State High School Associations.

The Olympians Marion Jones and Tara Davis-Woodhall previously established state championship records during the long jump in 1993 and 2017, respectively, exceeding 22 feet (6.7 meters).

Friday, the 100 -meter boys were also a highlight on Friday. Junior Jaden Jefferson from the High School room in Concord finished in 10.01 seconds, about 0.2 seconds faster than a competition record in 2023. Jefferson's time will not count as a record unless it can reproduce its results in the final.

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Austin is a member of the body for the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit national services program that places journalists from local editorial rooms to report on under-cover issues. Follow Austin on X: @Sophiaadanna