Transgender athlete complains about lack of sportsmanship from fellow runners after winning girls state title

Veronica Garcia, a transgender high school athlete in Washington who won the state championship in the girls 400-meter race last month, complained about the lack of "sportsmanship" shown after winning the race and receiving a medal for it.

Garcia, of East Valley High School, ran the race in 55.75 seconds, which was one second better than the second-place finisher's time of 56.75, according to the Pacific Northwest Track and Field Officials' track scoreboard.

However, Garcia told The Spokesman-Review the lack of a congratulations from other runners at the meet "somewhat hurt."

"I guess maybe I expected sportsmanship because I was cheering the rest of them on when they were called. So I guess I expected to get that reciprocated," Garcia told the paper. "But I didn’t get that.