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High school athlete AB Hernandez recently won multiple events in California

The mother of a transgender athlete at the centre of a bitter row over girls' sport in California has criticised a controversial podium policy after claiming her child was made to feel "invisible".

Nereyda Hernandez spoke out at the San Francisco Pride Summit on Thursday following weeks of debate surrounding her child, AB Hernandez, who won multiple events at the California state track and field championships last month while representing Jurupa Valley High School.

The controversy prompted the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) to implement a rule allowing biological female athletes who finish directly behind a transgender competitor to also receive first-place recognition.

The policy was introduced in 2025 in an attempt to ease growing tensions surrounding transgender participation in girls' sport, though it has continued to divide opinion.

Hernandez said she was deeply upset by the arrangement and felt it diminished her child's achievements.

"AB put in all the work, all the hours after school, and she got put aside.

"It was heartbreaking. I knew it hurt her, because she's physically there but she's kind of invisible."

Hernandez, who graduated in May, became one of the most talked-about athletes in American high school sport after competing in the girls' category at the championships.

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Demonstrators gathered outside the event wearing "Save Girls' Sports" T-shirts and carrying signs that read: "No boys. No bias. Just fairness."

Last year, President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from California if the state continued to allow transgender athletes assigned male at birth to compete in female sporting categories.

In a social media post, Trump accused California of "ILLEGALLY allow 'MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN'S SPORTS.'"

AB Hernandez has previously brushed aside criticism surrounding participation in girls' athletics.

"Track is a very singular sport; it teaches you to rely on yourself.

"Once you're on the track, you just stay focused on the track."