Last month, Brookline High School in Massachusetts won the state track and field championship for the girl's team. One of the students who played a role in winning the title was Chloe Barnes, who finished fourth in the girl's 55M hurdles. This fourth-place finish helped the school secure the points needed to clinch the victory.

Oh, and until this year, Chloe competed on the boy's team. Because Chloe is a biological male.

Understandably, this has caused quite an uproar. The female-athlete advocacy group ICONS Women said that Chloe kept another girl from participating in the finals, pointing out that boys' hurdles are taller than girls' hurdles, making it easier for Barnes to compete against the girls. Plus, earlier in the season, Chloe helped the girl's 4x200-meter relay team win a race. Video of that race shows Chloe sprinting ahead of her female competitors, at about 5:57:40 in the video below. Chloe also appears to purposely slow down two times.

However, Chloe is simply following state policy by competing against the girls: "Students who are transgender may participate in accordance with the gender identity they consistently assert at school. Interscholastic athletic activities are addressed through the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Gender Identity Policy (MIAA) clarification."

Last year, Chloe preemptively addressed would-be critics of their decision to compete against girls by telling a school newspaper, "deal with it. Just deal with it." As a former track athlete myself, I know just how demoralizing it is to miss a final or award by a single spot. I can only imagine how much worse it would be to lose that spot to someone with an inherent biological advantage over you.

Unfortunately these types of stories are popping up across the country more and more frequently. On the bright side, it does seem like the tide is slowly turning on this issue, likely due to athletes like Riley Gaines who have spoken out against it. So perhaps one day women's sports will once again exclusively belong to women. A (biological) girl can dream.

2023 MSTCA Northeast Invitational Day 2www.youtube.com