It’s currently one of the most discussed political and cultural topics of the day. People are talking about whether it’s fair for men to compete against women in sports, from Olympians to politicians seeking political office, from middle school girls to NCAA athletes, from celebrities to journalists, coaches, and parents.
We are four Connecticut natives who compete in track. We were astonished to see not one, but two male competitors in our girls’ track and field events during our high school years. It was really depressing.
Those men shattered 17 track meet records, took 15 first place finishes, and fundamentally changed both girls’ track and our high school experience in just three years.
Our state’s sporting policy, which allowed males to compete on the girls’ team, was challenged in the first federal litigation of its sort in the country four years ago. When we first began sharing our story, we were just teenagers. It took some time, as well as the participation of many other female athletes, for American public and government officials to realize that this wasn’t just a rare problem affecting a small number of girls in New England, but that it was becoming more and more common.
