US track star hits out at Trump’s trans ban: ‘My biology is fundamentally different than a cis man’
Sadie Schreiner, 2nd from L, wears a transgender flag in her hair on the awards stand after finishing 3rd in the finals of the 200m race at the 2024 NCAA DIII outdoor track and field championships at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium on May 25, 2024, in Myrtle Beach, SC. (Washington Post via Getty Images)
Trans US track star Sadie Schreiner has opened up about the devastating way US president Donald Trump’s move against trans athletes has negatively impacted her.
The 21-year-old, who is a two-time NCAA All American in 200-and 200-meter races, shared that she feels “defeated” amid Trump’s attacks on the trans community, especially in sports, reports CNN.
Trump signed an executive order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports”, which prevents trans women from competing in female categories of sports – a move Republicans claim restores “fairness.”
The order largely covers high school, university and grassroots sports and has been put into effect immediately, despite a report finding that trans women have no advantage over other women when competing in elite sport, if existing rules are followed.
Schreiner began her transition in high school and takes hormone therapy that keeps testosterone level low and undetectable on lab tests.
She explained, as reported by CNN: “(The hormone therapy) shrank my ligaments. It’s made me shorter. It’s made me weaker. It’s lessened my muscles. It’s redistributing my fat. It’s lowered my lung capacity.
“My biology is fundamentally different than a cis man.”
But due to Trump’s order she is now unable to run in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) events. She switched to running in events organised by USA Track & Field, but said she recalled the experience as “brutal” as she ran around the track alone, with no competition in her age group.
USA Track & Field’s requirements then became more restrictive, matching regulations from World Athletics, meaning she can no longer run in races held by the governing body.
‘It’s sad’
“They silently changed their policy,” she said, adding, “It means there’s likely no more meets in the United States that I could run.”
Sadie Schreiner’s father, Greg Schreiner, said of the restrictions: “It’s sad, you know, you want to be excited about and celebrate your kids. I love to watch Sadie run and thinking that this is potentially her last race in this country, you become melancholy.”
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