California trans athlete policy shift allows two winners after Trump funding threat

California's top high school sports authority has made a last-minute policy change ahead of this weekend's state track and field championships

and it comes after a transgender athlete took first place in the girls' long jump and triple jump events to advance to state

Under the new policy, multiple first-place winners are now allowed, meaning if a trans athlete outperforms a biological female in a girls event

that biological female can still be awarded first place as well. We'll break down what this policy means, why it was introduced now, and the growing reaction to it

President Trump sounded off over a trans athlete beating out female track competitors

at a high school girls track meet that allowed the trans athlete to move on to the state championship

happening this weekend whereas the senior female athlete who placed second place would not have been allowed to go to state In a Truth Social post on Tuesday Trump threatened to withhold federal funds from California if the state didn intervene

A few hours later, the state's sports governing body, California Interscholastic Federation

or CIF, posted this on X, announcing a policy change, a pilot entry process that will allow

biological female athletes who would have earned a qualifying spot for state to advance to the

state championship. The governor's office was asked to clarify what the statement means and said the

so-called pilot policy will allow for separate scoring for transgender students. This means

there could be multiple first place winners at the state championships on May 30th. A spokesperson

for Governor Gavin Newsom applauded the move in a media statement, saying CIF's proposed pilot

is a reasonable respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness The governor is encouraged by this thoughtful approach The White House has not responded to the latest policy shift

so it's unclear if it's sufficient to meet President Trump's demand, which was to not allow the trans athlete to participate in the upcoming state championship

a condition he tied to California's federal funding. The new policy would allow the female track athlete who placed second this past weekend to compete at state

It's unclear right now if she will be there. But she did speak with Fox News earlier in the week after she placed second at the meet

I'm a high school senior and, you know, winning CIF has always been a goal of mine

And I just I wasn't able to compete with someone who is genetically different than me

Here's some of the early reaction coming in from leaders in the state

California Republican Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez told KCRA News we pissed at this how every day that goes by no one is protecting our girls This is inexcusable and we need to have something done Governor Newsom needs to pick a side

And Democratic state senator Scott Weiner said Trump is now targeting California just like he

targeted Maine. California law protects trans people. That won't change. There's only one

answer to a bully, no. As Maine Governor Janet Mills said, see you in court. In Maine, the Trump

administration reversed its funding freeze earlier this month in a settlement with the state

However, there is an ongoing legal battle between the Trump admin and Maine's Department of Education

over its trans athletes policy. And given the contention between Trump and California over the

same issue. California could be next in court