A former female high school track star wrote an op-ed published by USA Today explaining that competing against and being defeated by biological males shattered her confidence and convinced her that being a woman meant she wasn’t “good enough.”
“I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles, two all-New England awards, and numerous other spots on the podium to transgender runners,” Chelsea Mitchell wrote in an op-ed titled “I was the fastest girl in Connecticut. But transgender athletes made it an unfair fight.”
“I was bumped to third place in the 55-meter dash in 2019 behind two transgender runners,” Mitchell said. “With every loss, it gets harder and harder to try again.”
Mitchell explained that she remembers feeling a lack of confidence before a big race last February, worrying that her best “might not be enough, simply because there’s a transgender runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage.”
While Mitchell did go on to win that specific race, she says she was negatively affected by the many races she did lose to biological males.
“That’s a devastating experience,” she wrote. “It tells me that I’m not good enough; that my body isn’t good enough; and that no matter how hard I work, I am unlikely to succeed, because I’m a woman.”
Last year, Mitchell and two other female runners filed suit against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference in an attempt to stop biological males from being allowed to compete against females.
Mitchell wrote in the op-ed that CIAC officials are determined to “ignore the obvious” fact that transgender athletes are “simply bigger and stronger on average.”
Mitchell’s lawsuit was eventually dismissed by a federal court, and she believes that move “tells women and girls that their feelings and opportunities don’t matter, and that they can’t expect anyone to stand up for their dignity and their rights.”
The op-ed also touched on the potential effect allowing men to compete against women has on the future of some college athletes, which can prevent them from being admitted into certain universities.
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“It robs girls of the chance to race in front of college scouts who show up for elite metes, and to compete for the scholarships and opportunities that come with college recruitment,” Mitchell wrote. “I’ll never know how my own college recruitment was impacted by losing those four state championship titles. When colleges looked at my record, they didn’t see the fastest girl in Connecticut. They saw a second- or third-place runner.”
Mitchell concluded the piece by saying she will appeal the federal court’s ruling and has adopted the fight to preserve girls sports as a primary focus.
“So as we prepare for this next step in the case, I’m settling into my starting blocks again, but for a different kind of race,” she wrote. “And this time, I’m confident that we can win.”
