Fin Graham won his fourth successive road race World Championship title as Great Britain’s Para-cyclists brought home nine medals from Belgium.
Graham, 25, launched an attack inside the final kilometre and held off France’s Thomas Peyroton Dartet to retain his C3 crown.
His victory came two days after he won time trial bronze in Ronse.
“To win a first world title back in 2022 was a dream come true, so to now be retaining that for the fourth year in a row, is something that I could never have imagined,” he said.
“To do it here in Belgium, with that crowd, was phenomenal. I was made to work for it; it was such a hard race.
“It has finished off a really good week for our squad. Retaining this title, as Paralympic champion, is very special. To race in the rainbow stripes for another year is still a pinch me moment. I’ll never get tired of looking down and seeing the rainbow bands.”
Earlier on Sunday, Sophie Unwin – with her pilot Jenny Holl – won bronze in the women’s B road race, while Morgan Newberry won the same colour in the C5 equivalent.
Those followed silvers for both riders on Friday in their respective time trials.
There was a bronze medal too for Archie Atkinson in the C4 road race, while Felix Barrow finished third in the T2 race.
On Thursday, Callum Russell became the first British man to win a World Championship hand bike medal when he won bronze in the H4 time trial.
NEW ORLEANS — Hezly Rivera was the fresh face a year ago. The newcomer. The teenager on a team of 20-something Olympic gymnasts, doing her best to absorb what she could from Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles.
The one thing that stood out, even more than the sometimes otherworldly gymnastics, is the way her fellow gold-medal-winning teammates went about their business.
“They looked so confident,” Rivera said. “They’re like, ‘I’m going to go out and I’m going to hit.’ It gave me that confidence as well.”
Looks like it.
The now 17-year-old who says she’s paying no attention to the idea that she’s the leader of the women’s program in the early stages of the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics certainly looks the part.
Buoyed by a polished steadiness — and a beam routine that finally looked the way it does back home at her home gym in Texas — Rivera captured her first national title Sunday night at the U.S. Championships. Her two-day total of 112.000 was good enough to fend off a challenge from Leanne Wong and put her in excellent position to lead the four-woman American delegation at the world championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, in October.
Rivera, by far the youngest member of the five-woman team that finished atop the podium in Paris a year ago, bounced back from a shaky performance at the U.S. Classic last month with the kind of measured, refined gymnastics that she attributed to simply “letting go” of whatever pressure she might feel as the lone Olympic gold medalist in a remarkably young field.
“No matter how rough the competition is, I still can get back into the gym and work hard because all those months previously that I’ve been working hard, I know it’s going to show up eventually,” she said. “So it kind of just took a weight off my shoulders.”
Rivera, at the very least, locked up a spot in the world championship selection camp next month. So did Wong, a four-time world championship medalist, budding entrepreneur and pre-med student who shows no signs of slowing down despite years of competing collegiately and at the elite level simultaneously.
Asked how she juggles it all, the 21-year-old who insists she doesn’t keep a planner said she lives by the motto “there’s time for everything.”
Joscelyn Roberson, an Olympic alternate last summer, shook off an ankle injury suffered at the end of her floor routine to finish third as the three most internationally experienced athletes in the field looked ready to lead after spending most of the last Olympic quad learning from Biles and company.
“You go from, ‘Oh you’re so young, you’re so young,’ to, ‘Oh, you are the older kid,’” the 19-year-old Roberson said. “People say, ‘How are you feeling?’ Like, I honestly don’t feel that different.”
Two summers ago, Roberson was Biles’ bouncy sidekick. Now she’s among the leaders of the next wave.
“I felt like more responsible to let the little, smaller, less experienced kids know it’s not the end of the day if you have a bad day or if you had one fall,” Roberson said. “I want to help them grow instead of think ‘I have to be perfect.’”
Roberson then walked the walk. Or maybe limped the limp. She appeared ready to make it a three-woman race for first until she turned an ankle on the final tumbling pass of her floor routine.
The rising sophomore at Arkansas gingerly continued on anyway. She gritted her way through her vault dismount, though the five-tenths (0.5) deduction for using an additional pad for her protection took her out of contention for the all-around.
Hezly Rivera, center, stands next to Leanne Wong, left, and Joscelyn Roberson at the U.S. gymnastic championships on Sunday.
(Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)
Still, the victory hardly came easy for Rivera. She was pushed through four rotations by Wong, who started Sunday with a stuck Cheng vault and didn’t relent over the course of two hours.
Rivera responded each time — she posted the top scores on three of the four events — but it wasn’t until she walked off the podium following her floor routine with victory in hand that she could relax.
“Everything fell into place,” Rivera said. “I tried not to get too overwhelmed because nerves obviously can be there, especially when you know you’re in a spot to win a national title, but I just took all pressure off myself.”
Skye Blakely, who was injured at the Olympic Trials in both 2021 and 2024, was sublime on both uneven bars and balance beam to put herself in consideration to make the world team.
England’s men claimed a comfortable 5-0 win over Poland as they get their Pool B campaign under way at the EuroHockey Championships in Monchengladbach.
David Goodfield put England ahead in the first half but the 2023 finalists were made to wait to extend their lead by a resolute Polish side that came through the qualifiers in Dublin last summer.
Jacob Payton swept in the second in the third quarter and Phil Roper, Sam Ward’s deflected penalty corner shot and a Tom Sorsby effort in the last minute, rounding off the scoring.
“We really stuck at our gameplan. I was really proud of the boys to keep digging in knowing we were doing the right thing and we perservered and scored a few more goals,” said midfielder Sorsby.
“I think I had more shots in that game than in my entire international career so far and I want to convert a few more.”
England will now face hosts Germany in their next fixture on Sunday, 14:00 BST, before taking on France on 12 August, 11:30 BST.
Caudery won the pole vault with a first-time clearance of 4.45m, before pushing herself to equal her best performance of the year by going over at 4.85m.
The 25-year-old won world indoor gold in a breakout 2024 season, during which she broke the British record with a 4.92m jump, but failed to qualify for the Olympic final.
“I’ve just been finding my flow again and figuring a few things out, so I didn’t push it today, but it is really exciting to jump back over the 80s again and I’m hoping to attempt [the British record] soon,” Caudery said.
Nuttall sealed her place on the team by winning the women’s 5,000m in 15 minutes 46.90 seconds, having achieved the qualifying time before the championships.
But 19-year-old Innes FitzGerald, who achieved the qualifying standard in breaking the European Under-20 record in London last month, must wait to see if she is selected after finishing third behind India Weir.
Okoye confirmed his place in Tokyo by winning the men’s discus with a 65.93m throw, while Anna Purchase threw a championship record 72.96m to win the women’s hammer title – a distance within UK Athletics’ (UKA) consideration standard.
In the sprints, Dina Asher-Smith contests the women’s 200m, with Daryll Neita and Amy Hunt doubling up by adding the 100m.
Jeremiah Azu and Zharnel Hughes are among those aiming for glory in the men’s events, with Louie Hinchliffe focusing his attention on retaining his 100m crown.
Charlie Dobson is favourite to retain his 400m title in the absence of Hudson-Smith, as is world indoor champion Amber Anning in the women’s event.
In the field events, high jumper Morgan Lake will seek to continue her good form following her London Diamond League victory, while Molly Caudery is in pole vault action.
Johnson-Thompson is entered in the 100m hurdles, javelin and shot put as she builds towards her bid for a third world title.
With the World Para Athletics Championships taking place in New Delhi, India, from 26 September, Kare Adenegan, Zachary Shaw and Sophie Hahn are among the British stars also in action.
Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh won another gold medal on Monday as she bids to make history at the World Aquatics Championships while Great Britain claimed a diving bronze.
After winning the women’s 400m freestyle final on Sunday, McIntosh has a chance to equal Michael Phelps’ record of five individual titles at a single world championships.
Her second final was in the 200m individual medley, and the 18-year-old won in two minutes 6.69 seconds, with American Alex Walsh second and Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey third.
Great Britain’s Abbie Wood, 26, finished sixth as McIntosh stayed on course for a full house in Singapore.
The three-time Olympic champion is also set to race in the 400m individual medley, 800m freestyle and 200m butterfly, with the latter being her next event on Wednesday.
British divers Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding won bronze in the men’s 3m synchronised final in what was almost a repeat of last year’s Olympic podium.
They were again third with a score of 405.33, while Mexico’s Juan Celaya and Osmar Olvera were again second (449.28).
But China’s Olympic champion Wang Zongyuan has a new partner, Zheng Jiuyuan, and they proved too strong with 467.31.
Maisie Bond and Lois Toulson were fifth in the women’s 10m synchro final, as was fellow Briton Ben Proud in the men’s 50m butterfly.
Izzy Thorpe and Ranjuo Tomblin have won Great Britain’s first medal of the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
They scored 322.0583 points in the synchronised mixed duet free event to win bronze and claim GB’s first ever medal in the event.
It was a tight contest for a podium place, with just 1.7980 points separating first and third.
Spain’s Dennis Gonzalez Boneu and Iris Tio won gold, while six-time artistic swimming champion Aleksandr Maltsev and partner Olesia Platonova – who are Russian but compete as neutral athletes – took silver.
The British duo had the highest difficulty and execution score in the final despite only competing together once before.
Olympic silver medallist Thorpe and rising-star Tomblin won silver in the mixed duet technical event at the European Championships last month.
They have both enjoyed successful seasons as Tomblin became the first British male to win a European artistic swimming title last year, while Thorpe won GB’s first synchronised medal at the Olympics in Paris 2024.
Englishmen Black, Richardson and Hylton plus Welsh duo Thomas and Baulch were belatedly presented with their gold medals at Saturday’s Diamond League meeting at a sold-out London Stadium.
“It’s been hanging over us for a very, very long time. I mean, 28 years is a long time so yesterday really completed it. It was great,” added Black.
“In some ways, it was more special because we were there with our families and our kids, who obviously weren’t born back then.
“I think Jamie had a baby then but we were able to share it with our families and you don’t get to do that, do you?
“Also, more importantly, we shared it with 60,000 British fans in there and a lot of them supported us back in the day.
“I think pulling that together, it was actually a surprisingly emotional moment and we loved it. It was really special.”
Cherry Alexander, UK Athletics’ strategic lead for major events, said: “We’re proud to be able to give these athletes their moment in front of a home crowd.
“It’s a chance to recognise not just their talent, but the values they stood for. This medal means even more because of how long they’ve waited for it.”
In June more than 100 of Britain’s most renowned athletes wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging the government to back London’s bid to host the World Athletics Championships.
It came after concerns that a bid could be at risk, with uncertainty over the estimated £45m that government was being asked for amid spending cuts, despite claims that the event would deliver £400m of economic impact.
The championships were not referenced when ministers unveiled half a billion pounds of investment into sporting events in a spending review last month.
However, talks have been taking place with UK Athletics and UK Sport, and Starmer said he is “delighted to support the bid”.
“Bringing the World Athletics Championships to the UK would be a moment of great national pride, building on our global reputation for hosting memorable sporting events that showcase the very best talent,” he said.
“Hosting these championships would not only unlock opportunities for UK athletes, but it would inspire the next generation to get involved and pursue their ambitions.
“The event would provide a boost for UK businesses and support jobs as well as bring our communities together.”
Jack Buckner, CEO of UK Athletics, said: “After superb medal hauls over the last few years on the world, Olympic and Paralympic stage, athletics in the UK is on an upward trajectory, with new partners, record participation and sold-out stadia. This support will drive the sport on to new heights.”
Josh Kerr, 1500m world champion and double Olympic medallist, said: “London 2017 was my first senior World Championships and it lit a fire in me.
“Being part of a home team in that kind of atmosphere was incredible – it made me hungrier than ever to become a world champion and chase Olympic medals.
“Having the government support to bid for 2029 and potentially bring that experience back to London would be massive.
“It would inspire so many young athletes and give the sport the platform it deserves.
“I’m proud to support the bid and hope we get the chance to show the world what we can do on home soil.”
Great Britain finished fifth overall at the European Athletics Team Championships in Madrid.
The GB team, captained by discus thrower Lawrence Okoye, finished on 381 points, 3.5 points behind the Netherlands in fourth and three points ahead of sixth-placed Spain.
Sarah Tait, making her international debut, was one of the standout performers on the final day, adding 15 points to GB’s tally with a second-placed finish in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase – just three hundredths of a second behind Finland’s Ilona Mononen.
There were also third-place finishes for Revee Walcott-Nolan in the women’s 1500m and Toby Harries in the men’s 200m.
Bekah Walton, who had surgery on her throwing arm just five months ago, threw 58.63m to finish fourth in the women’s javelin, while Scott Lincoln also finished fourth in the men’s shot put.
Jazmin Sawyers continued her comeback from a 20-month lay-off with an Achilles injury with a sixth-placed finish in the women’s long jump.
In the final event of the night, the 4x400m mixed relay team of Lina Nielsen, Toby Harries, Emily Newnham and Samuel Reardon finished finished third with a time of three minutes 9.6 seconds – the same time as second-placed Italy – to earn GB their final 14 points.
On Friday, 21-year-old Reardon set a championship record and ran a personal best time of 44.60 to win the 400m.
The time places the double Olympic bronze medallist seventh on the all-time list for European under-23s.
Eugene Amo-Dadzie, nicknamed the ‘world’s fastest accountant’, clocked 10.07 as he claimed top spot in the men’s 100m.
Italy successfully defended the crown they won in Poland in 2023.
EUGENE, Ore. — Buoyed by top performances in the hammer throw, high jump and 400 meters, the Georgia women’s track and field squad distanced itself from the opposition and cruised to its first outdoor national championship in team history.
Georgia lapped the field with 73 points ahead of runners-up USC (47) and third place Texas A&M (43). Fourth-year Bulldogs coach Caryl Smith Gilbert also won national titles at USC in 2018 and 2021.
Samirah Moody won the 100-meter dash and Madison Whyte and Dajaz DeFrand went 2-3 in the 200 to lead USC.
USC placed first in the 4×100 relay with a time of 42.22 seconds.
In the 100, Moody took first with a time of 11.14 seconds while teammates DeFrand and Brianna Selby finished seventh and eighth, respectively. In the 200, Whyte, a sophomore who also anchored the 4×400 team, clocked in at 22.23 while DeFrand, a junior, finished at 22.39.
Olympic gold medalist Aaliyah Butler and Dejanea Oakley of Georgia took the first two spots in the 400 meters with Butler posting a 49.26 and Oakley a 49.65. Butler’s time was the fifth best all-time for a collegian and Oakley was eighth.
The Bulldogs expanded their lead when Elena Kulichenko won the high jump for the second straight year after tying for the title last year. The Odessa, Russia, native won with a jump of 6 feet, 5 inches.
Michelle Smith, a freshman, finished third in the 400 meter hurdles at 55.20 to clinch the team title. Skylynn Townsend took sixth in the triple jump at 44-4¼.
Georgia ended the night by finishing first in the 4×400-meter relay with Butler taking the lead in the final leg with a winning time of 3:23.62. The Trojans posted a third-place finish in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:26.01. UCLA’s team finished seventh at 3:31.14.
The Bulldogs entered Saturday competition in the lead with 26 points after Stephanie Ratcliffe won the hammer throw on Thursday with a nation-leading distance of 234 feet, 2 inches.
Washington and USC shared the lead earlier Saturday night after Washington’s Sophie O’Sullivan won the 1,500 meters and Moody took the 100, but Georgia got 18 points from Butler and Oakley and never looked back.
Georgia also got points in the javelin with a second-place finish from freshman Manuela Rotundo and a fourth-place finish from Lianna Davidson. Senior Keslie Murrell-Ross finished sixth in the shot put.
More than 100 of Britain’s most renowned athletes have written an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging the government to back London’s bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships.
Sir Mo Farah, Keely Hodgkinson, Dame Kelly Holmes, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Daley Thompson are among the athletes, past and present, to sign the letter.
The bid proposal, if successful, would see the World Championships held at London Stadium, and require a “one-off injection of public funding in 2028” with the promise of “£400m in national economic impact”.
“Hosting in 2029 would bring the world’s best athletes back to British soil but more importantly, it would inspire a new generation to get involved in the most diverse and inclusive sport there is,” the letter read.
“Some of us were lucky enough to experience a home crowd at London 2012 and 2017. Some of us volunteered, others were in the stands. All of us were inspired.
“That spark set many of us on our journeys, just as it did for so many thousands of other young people who’ve gone on to join clubs, coach, officiate, or simply fall in love with athletics.”
The 2029 bid process is due to begin this summer, with organisers urging ministers to commit to securing the World Championships for the UK in the coming weeks.
London also hosted the Championships when they were last held in the UK in 2017.
CLOVIS, Calif. — The stars close the show and Long Beach Poly’s 4×400-meter relay brought the crowd to its feet with a stunning performance in the final race of the CIF State Track & Field Finals, winning in 3 minutes 8.68 seconds for the second-fastest time ever in the state meet. The top four teams ran sub-3:10, making it the fastest four-lapper ever in the finals on depth.
The Jackrabbits just missed the state meet record of 3:08.42 set in 2010 by a Gardena Serra foursome anchored by Robert Woods, running the fourth-fastest time in California history.
Central East of Fresno was second in 3:09.23, Servite took third in 3:09.46 to clinch the team title with 33 points, L.A. Cathedral took fourth in 3:09.59 and Long Beach Wilson was fifth in 3:10.55.
Sprinters headlined Friday’s preliminaries but it was the distance runners who played leading roles Saturday at Buchanan High School.
Rylee Blade has made a habit of performing her best on the brightest stage and she ran her fastest girls’ 3,200-meter race ever (9:50.51) but had to settle for second when she was passed on the last turn by Hanne Thomsen of Santa Rosa Montgomery, who won in 9:48.98.
Corona Santiago senior Rylee Blade, left, hugs girls’ 3,200-meter champion Hanne Thomsen after a thrilling finish Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“I knew this would be a kicking race and give [Thomsen] credit, she had a bit more at the end,” said Blade, the Corona Santiago standout who won the state title as a sophomore and was third last year.
In a shocking development, Stanford-bound senior Evan Noonan of Dana Hills, last year’s boys’ 3,200 champion, caught a stomach flu earlier in the afternoon and had to drop out of the race, distraught that he couldn’t defend his title. Woodcrest Christian’s Eyan Turk took advantage of the race favorite’s absence, winning in 8:51.62.
Thomsen was involved in another stretch duel in the girls’ 1,600 versus another Corona Santiago runner Braelyn Combe, who did not realize she won until times were posted on the scoreboard.
Santa Margarita’s Leo Francis wins the boys’ long jump with a leap of 25-00.75 at the CIF state track and field championships at Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif., on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“We were shoulder to shoulder with 100 [meters] to go and pushed each other to the end,” said Combe, who won by five-hundredths of a second in a personal-best of 4:35.64, the second-fastest in the country this year and fifth fastest in state history. “I’ve never been that close to someone at the finish line. I closed my eyes and prayed and when I looked up at the board I burst into tears. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. I’m so happy. My family drove five hours up here to watch.”
Combe, a junior who took second in the 1,600 last year, credits her victory to training with Blade, whom she called “unbelievable.”
“It’s a blessing to have her on my team, she’s the best pacing partner,” said Combe, who capped off her day by anchoring the Sharks’ 4×800-meter relay, which ran 8:49.01 to establish a new state meet record. “It’s a real advantage for me.”
Long Beach Wilson senior Loren Webster wins her second straight CIF state girls’ long jump title with a personal-best leap of 21-00.25 at Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif., on Saturday.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Looking like an Olympic gymnast, Loren Webster successfully defended her state title in girls’ long jump, achieving a personal-best of 21 feet, 0¼ inch. Transgender athlete AB Hernandez, who beat Webster at the Southern Section Masters Meet and posted the top qualifying mark Friday, finished 3½ inches behind in second.
“I’m glad I was able to win to honor my jump coach who has worked with me since my first year jumping as a sophomore,” the teary-eyed senior said of Carl Hampton, who died of cancer May 24, the day of the Masters Meet. “I PR’d by a couple of inches. I was injured most of the season but I knew what I was capable of and I knew today was the only day that mattered.”
Hernandez went on to win the triple jump and tied for first with Lelani Laruelle of Monte Vista and Jillene Wetteland of Long Beach Poly in the high jump at 5-07.
JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame cleared 6-09 to win the boys high jump after finishing second at the state meet last year.
“I knew I would win but honestly, I’m not happy,” said the Knights’ junior, whose personal-best was 7-0¼ last year. “I was on fire in the lower heights, getting over easily but once it got to seven feet I forgot my form.”
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1.Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Aja Johnson celebrates after finishing first in the girls’ shot put on Saturday.2.Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s JJ Harel won the boys’ high jump title Saturday.(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Giving Harel a high-five after his win was Notre Dame senior Aja Johnson, who won the girls’ shot put for the second time in three years with a throw of 45-05¾.
“It’s not a PR or anything but at least I won it for my school. … I’m happy about that,” said Johnson, who is going to college at Louisville.
Oaks Christian’s girls repeated as 4×100 champions in 46.08, edging Long Beach Poly (46.18) for the second year in a row. Servite won the boys 4×100 relay in 40.27, one hundredth of a second faster than its preliminary time.
Concord De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson won the boys’ 100 meters in 10.27, followed by Servite’s Benjamin Harris (10.31), Alemany’s Demare Dezeurn (10.39) and Rancho Cucamonga’s RJ Sermons (10.48). Temecula Valley’s Jack Stadlman won the 400 meters in 46.02 and took second in the 200 meters in 20.82. Sermons, who had to win a run-off Friday to gain the last qualifying spot, finished sixth in the 200 in 21.05.
Long Beach Wilson successfully defended its 4×400 girls relay title.
Servite won the boys state team title, while Clovis North finished second and Santa Margarita placed third.
Long Beach Wilson claimed the girls state team title, Long Beach Poly finished second and Santiago Corona finished third.
Long Beach Wilson junior Wyatt Obando, second right, edges Lucas Alberts of Jesuit to win the boys’ 800 meters Saturday.
CLOVIS, Calif. — Overcoming intense pressure to quit from President Trump, dozens of local protesters and other prominent critics of transgender athletes in girls’ sports, 16-year-old AB Hernandez bounded past many of her peers to win multiple gold medals at California’s high school track and field championships Saturday.
The transgender junior from Jurupa Valley High School — who competed despite a directive from Trump that she be barred from doing so — won state titles in the girls’ triple jump and the girl’s high jump and took second place in the girls’ long jump.
Hernandez’s success at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships in Clovis came amid high heat — with temperatures above 100 degrees for much of the day — and under an intense spotlight.
Earlier in the week, Trump had said on social media that he was “ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow” Hernandez to compete, wrongly alleging she had won “everything” in a prior meet and calling her “practically unbeatable.” Protesters gathered outside the meet both Friday and Saturday to denounce her inclusion and the LGBTQ+-friendly state laws allowing it.
Despite all that, Hernandez appeared calm and focused as she competed. When her name was announced for the long jump, she waved to the crowd. When she was announced for the high jump, she smiled.
Hernandez beat out all other competitors in the triple jump, though the runner-up was also awarded 1st place under new rules established by the California Interscholastic Federation after Trump issued his threats.
Hernandez tied with two other girls in the high jump, with the three of them all clearing the same height and sharing the gold.
Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, heaped praise on her after the events in a statement provided to The Times, saying, “As your mother, I cannot fully express how PROUD I am of you.”
“Watching you rise above months of being targeted, misunderstood, and judged not by peers, but by adults who should’ve known better, has left me in awe of your strength,” her mother said. “Despite it all, you stayed focused. You kept training, you kept showing up, and now you’re bringing THE GOLD HOME!!!
During some of Hernandez’s jumps, a protester could be heard on a bullhorn from outside the Buchanan High School stadium chanting “No boys in girls’ sports!” California Interscholastic Federation officials banned protest signs inside the facility, but outside protesters held a range of them — including ones that read “No Child Is Born in the Wrong Body,” “Trans Girls Are Boys: CIF Do Better,” and “She Trains to Win. He takes the trophy?”
Josh Fulfer, a 46-year-old father and conservative online influencer who lives near the stadium, said he was the protester on the bullhorn. He said Hernandez should not have been competing — regardless of how she placed — because her presence in the competition had a negative “psychological effect” on her cisgender competitors.
“I stand with truth,” he said. “Males should not be pretending to be females, and they shouldn’t be competing against female athletes.”
Loren Webster, a senior from Wilson High School in Long Beach who beat Hernandez in the long jump, said she wasn’t giving Hernandez much thought — instead, she was focused on her own performance.
“It wasn’t any other person I was worried about. I knew what I was capable of,” Webster said. “I can’t control the uncontrollable.”
A child holds a protest sign alongside a family member and others opposed to transgender athlete AB Hernandez competing in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships, at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
The intense focus on Hernandez over two days of competition Friday and Saturday reflected a broad rise in conservative outrage over transgender girls competing in sporting events nationwide, despite their representing a tiny fraction of competitors. It also reflected a concerted effort by Trump and other prominent conservative figures to single out Hernandez, individually, as an unwitting poster child for such concerns.
Recent polls, including one conducted by The Times last year, have shown that many Americans support transgender rights, but a majority oppose transgender girls participating in youth sports. California has long defended transgender kids and their right to participate in youth athletics, but other states have increasingly moved to limit or remove such rights entirely.
Marci Strange supports protestors as they protest against transgender athlete AB Hernandez competing In the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships, at Veterans Memorial Stadium In the campus of Buchanan High School in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
Trump first latched onto transgender issues with fervor during his presidential campaign, spending millions of dollars on anti-transgender political ads. Since being elected, he has issued a wave of executive orders and other policies aimed at rolling back transgender rights and protections.
Again and again, Hernandez has been singled out in that discussion.
Earlier this week, Trump referenced Hernandez in a social media post in which he said his administration would cut federal funding to California if it didn’t block her from competing in this weekend’s state finals and more broadly get in line with his executive order purporting to ban transgender youth from participating in school sports nationwide.
The following day, U.S. Justice Department officials referenced Hernandez again, announcing the launch of an investigation into whether California, its interscholastic sports federation and the Jurupa Unified School District are violating the civil rights of cisgender girls by allowing transgender students such as Hernandez to compete in sports.
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez competed for Jurupa Valley High School in the high jump at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
At the meet Friday and Saturday, Hernandez often blended in with the hundreds of other athletes, hardly drawing attention. She was less conspicuous by far than the protesters there to denounce her for competing.
Hernandez’s mother has pleaded with Trump and other adults in recent days to show her daughter compassion, calling it heartbreaking “every time I see my child being attacked, not for a wrongdoing, but simply for being who they are.”
She has said her daughter “is not a threat,” while the harassment directed at her is “not just cruel, it’s dangerous.”
Local protesters — some with ties to national conservative organizations — cast Hernandez’s competing in girls’ events in starkly different terms.
Before being escorted out by police, Sophia Lorey, outreach director for the conservative California Family Council, walked around the stadium Saturday wearing a hat reading, “Women’s Sports, Women Only.” She told members of the crowd that Hernandez was a boy and handed out pink “Save Girls’ Sports” bracelets and fliers directing people to an online petition calling on the California Interscholastic Federation to change its policies to bar transgender athletes from competition.
Trump administration officials have taken a similar stance.
In a letter Wednesday to interscholastic federation executive director Ronald W. Nocetti, Assistant Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon, who was appointed by Trump to head the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, called Hernandez’s success in recent track and field events “alarming.” And she said the California policies allowing Hernandez to compete are a potential violation of Title IX, the 1972 federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs and other activities that receive federal funding.
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez competed in three events including the high jump, triple jump and long jump at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
The remark came in a conversation on Newsom’s podcast in March, in which Hernandez was also singled out.
Kirk, a co-founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, asked Newsom whether he would voice his opposition to Hernandez competing in girls’ track and field events. Newsom said he agreed such situations were “unfair” but that he also took issue with “the way that people talk down to vulnerable communities,” including transgender people.
When Kirk suggested Newsom could say that he has “a heart for” Hernandez but still thinks her competing is unfair, Newsom again said he agreed.
Newsom has issued no such statement since. But, the playing field has shifted in California for transgender athletes since Trump started talking about Hernandez.
On Wednesday, the CIF announced a change in its rules for this weekend’s championships. Under the new rules, a cisgender girl who is bumped from qualifying for an event final by a transgender athlete will still advance to compete in the finals. In addition, the federation said, any cisgender girl who is beaten by a transgender competitor will be awarded whichever medal she would have claimed had the transgender athlete not been competing.
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez competed for Jurupa Valley High School in the high jump at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
The CIF did not mention Hernandez by name in announcing its policy change, but it did make direct reference to the high jump, triple jump and long jump — the three events in which she was to compete.
Under the new rules, Hernandez shared her place on each of the event podiums with other girls.
The CIF did not respond to a list of questions about its new policy. A spokesman for Newsom applauded the change, but others were unimpressed.
Critics of transgender athletes rejected it as insufficient and demanded a full ban on transgender athletes. Fulfer, the protester on the bullhorn, said the CIF was “admitting that they’ve got it wrong for a long time” while still not doing enough to fix it — which Trump would see clearly.
“I hope Donald Trump sees what happens this weekend, and I hope he pulls the funding away from California,” Fulfer said.
LGBTQ+ advocates also criticized the rule change, but for different reasons, calling it a crass capitulation that singled out a teenager to appease a crowd of bullies picking a political fight.
“The fact that these same political players continue to bully and harass one child, even after CIF changed its policy, shows this was never about sports or fairness,” said Kristi Hirst, co-founder of the public education advocacy group Our Schools USA.
“It was simply about using a child, while compromising their personal safety on a national scale, to score political points and distract from the serious issues families and communities in this country are actually concerned about,” Hirst said, “affording groceries, the loss of health care, and access to quality teachers and resources in their public schools.”
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez competed for Jurupa Valley High School in the long jump at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
Nereyda Hernandez said she hoped AB’s wins would serve as inspiration for other kids who feel “unseen.”
“To every young person watching, especially those who feel unseen or unheard, let AB be your reminder that authenticity, courage, and resilience shine BRIGHTER than hate,” she said. “It won’t be easy, but definitely worth it.”
Many Southland sprinters will bring their own heat to the CIF State track and field championships at Buchanan High in Clovis where 100-plus temperatures are forecast for Friday and Saturday.
The absence of last spring’s 100- and 200-meter dash winner Brandon Arrington, whose leg injury in a league meet May 9 forced him to miss the San Diego Section finals and denies him an opportunity to defend his state titles, opens lanes for the fastest athletes in the City and Southern Sections to take advantage. A junior from Mt. Miguel, Arrington broke the San Diego County record (20.35) in the 200 at Arcadia in April and one week later set a section record (10.21) in the 100 at Mt. SAC.
The favorite in the 100 is Concord De La Salle junior Jaden Jefferson, who enters with the best qualifying time (10.30, three-hundredths of a second better than Arrington’s winning time last year), but challenging him will be Antrell Harris of Birmingham (who clocked 10.92 to win the City title May 22), back-to-back Masters Meet winner Demare Dezeurn of Bishop Alemany (10.35), RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga (10.47) and Servite’s trio of Benjamin Harris (10.44), Robert Gardner (10.59) and Jorden Wells (10.63).
Senior Antrell Harris, center, of Birmingham was first in the 100 and 200 meters at the City Section finals May 22 in Lake Balboa.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
In the 200, Masters champion Sermons (20.97) will be in the first heat along with Temecula Valley’s Jack Stadlman (21.24), Dezeurn (21.04) has the fastest qualifying time in the second heat, Servite’s Jace Wells (21.05) and Newbury Park’s Jaden Griffin (21.36) are in the third heat, and joining Jefferson (21.11) in the last heat are Santa Margarita’s Leo Francis (21.14) and Harris (21.66).
Sermons, who announced the day before the Masters Meet that he will skip his senior year of high school to play football at USC, clocked a career-best 20.88 at the Baseline League finals and will try to beat Arrington’s winning time of 20.55 last year.
Servite freshman Jaelen Hunter (46.91) heads a talented group in the 400, which includes Stadlman (47.91), City champion Justin Hart from Granada Hills (47.45) and City runner-up Nathan Santacruz of Venice (47.48). Servite’s 4×100 relay was first at the Masters in 40.40 followed by Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (40.77), which will be in the same heat Friday as JSerra (41.44) and City champion Granada Hills (41.78), and Murrieta Valley (41.55) will be in Heat 4 with Birmingham (41.80).
Servite also has one of the faster foursomes in the 4×400 as the Friars figure to challenge for the team title, won last year by Long Beach Poly, which won the Masters race Saturday in 3:10.83. The loaded field also features Cathedral (3:12.20), Mira Costa (3:18.73), Long Beach Wilson (3:14.93), Culver City (3:14.80) and Granada Hills (3:24.15).
For the girls, Redondo Union’s Journey Cole and Chaparral’s Keelan Wright are in separate heats, but should they advance they would go head-to-head in the finals in a rematch of last week’s epic 100-meter showdown (Cole prevailed by five-hundredths of a second in 11.36). However, not to be underestimated are Malia Rainey (11.57) and Marley Scoggins (11.60) from Calabasas (11.57) and Carson’s Christina Gray, who ran 12.05 to win the City title.
Wright (23.21) is the leading qualifier in the 200. Other contenders are Rosary’s Justine Wilson (23.38), Scoggins (23.59) and Gray (24.62).
Long Beach Poly carried the baton around the oval in 45.94 at Masters to avenge its loss to Oaks Christian at last year’s state 4×100 final, and the two schools could match up again Saturday alongside City winner Carson (46.84), which was third in Clovis last year. Long Beach Wilson, the state team champion in 2024, has the top qualifying time (3:43.71) in the 4×400 relay.
In the distance events, Corona Santiago boasts two title contenders — Braelyn Combe in the 1,600 and Rylee Blade in the 3,200. Combe was second to Ventura’s Sadie Englehardt last year and won the Masters four-lapper last week in 4:44.36 (more than two and a half seconds better than her winning time at the Southern Section Division 1 finals), second-best among all qualifiers behind Chiara Dailey (4:43.57) of La Jolla in San Diego.
Blade ran 9:58.46 two weeks ago to break a Southern Section record that had stood since 1996 and cruised to the Masters win in 10:11.38. The Florida State-bound senior was third at state last year in 10:06.26 and she set a meet standard of 15:20.3 at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic in September.
USC-bound RJ Sermons of Rancho Cucamonga will try to double in the 100 and 200 meters at the CIF State Track & Field Championships.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Stanford signee Evan Noonan of Dana Hills, winner of the Southern Section and Masters races the past two weeks, will try to defend his 3,200 state title (he won in 8:43.12 as a junior).
Aliso Niguel’s Jaslene Massey and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s Aja Johnson have the first and second best throws in both shotput and discus. Massey swept the events at Masters (49-7.50 shotput; 165-06 discus). Johnson is the defending state discus champion and won the state shotput title in 2023.
In the boys high jump, Mission League rivals Matthew Browner from Chaminade and JJ Harel of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame both achieved 6-10 to finish first and second at Masters. Harel cleared that same height to take second at the state finals last year behind Birmingham’s Deshawn Banks.
The mixed team final will make its competition debut at the Artistic European Gymnastics Championships.
The championships, in Leipzig, Germany, begin on Monday.
British Olympian Ruby Evans believes the mixed team event – which has also been added to the Los Angeles Olympics programme for 2028 – is an “exciting” addition.
Evans says it “adds a different challenge and a bit of variety to the championships”.
But what is it and how does it work?
One female and one male gymnast from each federation will compete in the event – in which scores in individual events are added together to make a team total.
Female gymnasts will score on vault, balance beam and floor, while male gymnasts compete on floor, parallel and horizontal bars – and the 16 mixed teams with the best scores in individual qualification go through to the final. The make-up of the teams is not decided in advance – it is determined by the qualification scores.
Jake Jarman, an Olympic floor bronze medallist for Team GB in Paris last year, said: “It’s a great way to bring men’s and women’s gymnastics together. It’s going to be really interesting to see the mixed team event debut and see how it goes down with the audience and fans.”
You can watch the mixed team final live on BBC iPlayer from 15:50 BST on Wednesday, 28 May.
In comic book terms, Servite’s group of talented sprinters would be described as “faster than a speeding bullet.”
There’s so many of them that a rival coach quipped, “They run so fast no one can see them.”
Under an overcast sky and with unusually cool temperatures for May, Saturday’s Southern Section track and field championships at Moorpark High was not conducive to record times, but that didn’t prevent the Friars from turning on the speed.
It started with winning the Division 3 4×100-meter relay in 40.43 seconds but really got going when sophomore Benjamin Harris ran a career-best time of 10.32 seconds to win the 100 meters, an event in which the Friars accumulated 20 points.
“I feel I have more in the tank,” Harris said. “It’s not my favorite weather. I like running in heat, but you have to adapt.”
Later in the 200 meters, he won in 20.96 seconds and Servite athletes also claimed third, fourth, fifth and sixth. Freshman Jalen Hunter won the 400 in 47.10.
Brandon Thomas, Servite’s coach, has used his many fast runners to push each other in practices.
“The next three weeks we’re going to be real hot,” he said.
Servite could be a state title contender, but despite its sprinter success, the Friars fell short to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame for the Division 3 team title. The Knights found enough depth in the field events to finish with 106.5 points to Servite’s 104. JJ Harel made major contributions with a win in the high jump, second place in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump. Aaron Uzan got a surprise win in the 110-meter hurdles.
The Masters Meet next Saturday at Moorpark, which features the 18 best qualifiers, will have a memorable 100. Rodney Sermons of Rancho Cucamoga, a USC commit, won the Division 1 100 in 10.36 seconds. He also took the 200 in 20.29. Sophomore Demare Dezeurn of Bishop Alemany set a Division 4 100 record in 10.42 seconds.
Keelan Wright of Chaparral defended her Division 1 100 meters title, winning in 11.50 seconds.
(Craig Weston)
In the girls Division 1 100, Georgia-bound Keelan Wright of Chaparral repeated as champion with a time of 11.50. Marley Scroggins of Calabasas set a Division 3 100 record at 11.59 and won the 200 in 23.84. Wright also won her 200 in 23.32.
Evan Noonan of Dana Hills, one of the top distance runners in the nation, broke his own record in the Division 1 1,600 meters, winning in 4:03.71. The Stanford commit is aiming for his best performance to come next month at the Nike Outdoor Nationals. He has limited his appearances this spring trying to peak at the right time.
Evan Noonan of Dana Hills set a Division 1 record in the 1,600.
(Craig Weston)
“I wasn’t planning on it today but it was fun,” he said of his record. “I don’t feel 100% fresh but am moving in the right direction.”
Junior Alden Morales of JSerra set a Division 3 record in the 800 meters at 1:50.79.
Sophomore Darren Haggerty of Viewpoint, the school’s top wide receiver, surprised himself with personal bests to win the Division 4 long jump at 22 feet, 8 inches and high jump at 6-6. “It just happened,” he said. Viewpoint tied Gardena Serra for the Division 4 team title.
Aja Johnson of Notre Dame, headed to Louisville, won the Division 4 girls shotput at 46-2. Kaylin Edwards, the Long Beach Wilson senior who won a state championship in the 300-meter girls hurdles as a sophomore, showed she has regained her form in the 100 hurdles, winning Division 1 in 13.90. Wilson won the team title.
Benjamin Harris of Servite (middle) holds off Jaxon Gates of Damien (right), winning the Division 3 100 meters in 10.32 seconds.
(Craig Weston)
Braelyn Combe of Corona Santiago won her second straight Division 1 girls title in the 1,600 with a time of 4:46.99. She finished second at last year’s state final to Ventura’s Sadie Engelhardt.
On the boys’ side, Long Beach Poly (Division 1) and Culver City (Division 2) were among the team title winners. Canyon Country Canyon (Division 2), JSerra (Division 3) won girls’ team titles, as did St. Mary’s and Rosary, which finished tied in Division 4.
