I was a track champion until the NCAA replaced me with a man

On Sunday, I outed myself: I am Track Athlete A in a major lawsuit, Gaines v.NCAA, that aims to win justice for women in college sports.For two years, I’ve lived in the shadows, watching my records, my opportunities, my dignity and my voice stripped away — not by happenstance, but by design, as colleges applied rules allowing male athletes into women’s sports.My university, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and my own coaches applauded as a man competed on our women’s team, erased my records and those of other women, and was ushered into our locker room.He didn’t just steal medals — he stole the experiences we female athletes were promised: a safe and supportive environment, privacy, unity and leaders we could trust.I felt small.

Erased.Federal law was supposed to protect young women like me.Instead, Title IX was ignored.I’m speaking now because no other girl should be forced to feel insignificant just to make room for a man.I’ve been running track since I was 11 years old.

The joy of running and the reward of perseverance through adversity are deeply personal to me.I’m hard of hearing, so there’s a lot about my sport I can’t take for granted — such as hearing my coaches’ and teammates’ voices during practice, or the starter’s commands at the line.At meets without a microphone, I sometimes missed the critical “Set!” command.I’d have to throw my hand in the air to stop the race, drawing confused looks — and once, in a championship meet, a wave of boos from the crowd that nearly brought me to tears.But I kept going.

I learned to adapt, to fight through setbacks, and I earned my place through grit and determination.By my sophomore year at RIT, I was a team captain and the school record-holder in the 60-, 200- and 300-meter dash.But what I never expected — what I could not overcome — was lining up next to someone with the unmistakable physical advantages of a male body.No amount of training prepared me for that.Everythin...