Athena Ryan is a young man who ran in the varsity girls’ 1,600-meter race at a California state championship qualifier event last weekend. Ryan took second place, bumping Adeline Johnson, into fourth place and out of the qualifiers for the state finals.

Standing on the podium, Johnson looked dejected, giving the crowds and cameras a thumbs down:

When another male athlete, 46-year-old cyclist Lesley Mumford, displaced female competitors at the 2023 Desert Gravel Co2Ut race, he posted a picture of himself standing alone on the podium to Instagram, along with the caption: “I have no idea why so many people bailed before the podiums, but they did.”

He can play dumb all he likes. We know why female athletes are rejecting the norms of defeat. It’s because the competition isn’t fair. We need more of these outward signs of defiance.