Transgender track star sparks outrage after winning girls’ triple jump by more than 2 metres
AB Hernandez also took first place at the meet in the high jump and long jump events
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A dominant effort by a transgender track athlete has thrown more fuel on the fire over the heated debate over allowing trans athletes to compete in girls’ events.
AB Hernandez, a junior at Jurupa Valley High School in California, sparked online outrage after dominating her competition at the Ontario Relays invitational meet last month.
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Transgender track star sparks outrage after winning girls’ triple jump by more than 2 metres Back to video
Hernandez set a meet record with a triple jump of 12.2 metres, which was almost two-and-a-half metres longer than runner-up Angelica Villareal, who landed at 9.83 metres. Third-place finisher Felicia Mbagwu jumped 9.79 metres, records show.
The triple jump wasn’t the only event in which Hernandez obliterated the competition in, either.
Hernandez took first place in both the long jump at 5.33 metres – the runner-up was 1.5 metres short at 4.83m — and high jump with a mark of 1.47 metres.
Hernandez continued her winning ways this past weekend at the Roosevelt Invitational, again taking gold in the triple jump and long jump events, but posting a DNS in the high jump.
While the results were a bit closer, Hernandez still won by comfortable margins in both events, official records show.
“Hopefully, I hit a 41 (footer) this year if it’s possible. Preferably at state so that I can possibly win,” Hernandez said after her performance at the Ontario meet.
“I just keep telling myself you are No.1 — it’s yours to lose.”
With Hernandez’s dominant efforts, critics have quickly come on the attack, accusing the teen of having an unfair advantage.
“Unreal,” one user posted on X. “AB Hernandez, a trans-identified boy, set the Division 3 Girls’ triple jump meet record at the Ontario Relays meet in SoCal with a 40-foot triple jump, a full 8 feet longer than 2nd place (32’-03”).”
Another user called the win “outrageous,” saying that it was tantamount to theft.
“After stealing these titles, he had the audacity to say: ‘I just keep telling myself You are number one.’ This isn’t fairness.”
Hernandez’s wins come as a bill in the U.S. aimed at banning transgender women and girls from participating in school athletic competitions failed to advance in the Senate late Monday.
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