Tigard High School’s Alexa Anderson went viral when she protested the conclusion of the Oregon State Athletic Association’s Girls High Jump finale at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, late last month.
The Oregon high school track and field star refused to share a podium with a transgender athlete during the girls’ high jump medal ceremony.
Anderson and Sherwood High School’s Reese Eckard, who finished in third and fourth place, stood behind the ascending podium in the infield during the ceremony because they refused to stand next to Ida B. Wells High School transgender student Liaa Rose, who placed fifth.
The incident sparked considerable praise on social media, with the pair being lauded by prominent conservative activist Riley Gaines, amongst others. The symbolic protest represents part of a growing trend of female athletes making similar gestures against transgender inclusion in women’s sports.
Alexa Anderson is now speaking out and revealing officials told her to move away from the ceremony if she wasn’t going to participate.
“We stepped off the podium in protest and, as you can see, the official kind of told us, ‘Hey, go over there, if you’re not going to participate, get out of the photos,'” she told Fox News ‘”The Ingraham Angle.”
"We did it because someone has to say this isn't right."
— Dr Sherri tenpenny (@DrSherri06) June 1, 2025
Girls' track and field athletes Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckhard promptly hop off the medal podium after an event when a trans athlete stands next to them. The girls, who finished in third and fourth place, beat the trans pic.twitter.com/yKlBBaiaxf
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Anderson, a University of South Alabama commit, alleged that the area where they were told to stand was out of the photographers’ view.
According to Fox News, Rose had competed in boys’ track and field divisions as recently as 2024 and 2023.
It was just the latest incident in which women athletes have protested against transgender competitors in their division.
Alexa Anderson May Have Lost, But She Gets Praised Online
Two Oregon high school athletes refused to share the podium with a transgender competitor at the state girls’ high jump championship, sparking renewed debate over fairness in women’s sports.
Anderson and fellow competitor Reese Eckard were filmed refusing to step onto the podium during the medal ceremony in an apparent protest of a fifth-place finisher who is reportedly transgender.
The two girls may have lost, but accounts like “Libs of TikTok” and Riley Gaines have praised them for their actions.
