Trans athlete wins New York state girls’ shot put title, beating second place by more than 2 feet

A trans-identifying male athlete from Cicero-North Syracuse High School is now a New York state champion in girls’ shot put.

Julia (formerly "Jeff") Arnold won the girls' Class A shot put title Sunday at the NYSPHSAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, posting a winning throw of 39 feet, 9.25 inches. The second-place finisher managed 37 feet, 4.75 inches — more than two feet short of the championship mark.

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The state title is the latest victory in what has been a nearly spotless spring campaign for Arnold. Just weeks earlier, the senior swept both the shot put and discus competitions at the Section III Class A-1 Championships, recording a personal-best throw of 42 feet, 5.5 inches in the shot put and 132 feet in the discus. Across 10 shot put events this season, Arnold finished first nine times.

By the time the state championships arrived, Arnold had already climbed to No. 1 in New York's girls' shot put rankings and No. 2 in girls' discus.

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Currently, New York state allows athletes to compete based on gender identity rather than biological sex.

That policy remains at odds with President Donald Trump's February 2025 executive order, "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," which directed federal agencies to interpret Title IX protections on the basis of biological sex.

Following the executive order, New York State Education Department officials and the state attorney general issued guidance reaffirming that trans-identifying students could continue participating in sports consistent with gender identity and that schools could not require students to disclose biological sex before competing.