Male takes podium in girls’ Nordic skiing in Maine as state defies Trump’s executive order barring men from women’s sports

A male athlete competing against females has continued to take the place of girls in Maine, as the state defies President Trump’s executive order banning males from female sports.

According to the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, a male high-school athlete named Soren Stark-Chessa recently placed third and fourth in Maine’s state championship in girls’ Nordic skiing. The athlete reportedly secured enough points individually to ensure that his school, Maine Coast Waldorf School, placed third overall as a team.

Photos showed the high-school athlete on the podium among his female competitors.

Stark-Chessa has actually been competing against females in the state for years in other sports, including cross-country running. In 2023, Blaze News reported that the young male was accused of cheating after he placed fifth in a girls’ cross-country competition. The boy finished with a race time of 18:11.35, bumping a young girl named Abby out of a top-five finish.

The time would have placed Stark-Chessa in 143rd if he were still taking part in the male competition.

The young athlete was also reportedly ranked just 172nd as a freshman boy. However, after allegedly transitioning genders and racing against girls, he ended up ranked fourth in the female rankings.

‘We support all our students …’

The child’s athletic director, Susan Sonntag, defended the school’s decision at the time and said that the institution was simply following state law.

“We support all our students at Maine Coast Waldorf School and are proud that our students are given the opportunity to participate in all of our school programs.”

The administrator said she was adhering to Maine law that prohibits “unlawful educational discrimination.”

However, the ongoing participation of a male athlete in female sports is not in ine with President Trump’s recent executive order to prevent women’s sports from being infiltrated by men. The order called for “enforcement actions against educational institutions” if they force women to participate in sports or athletic events with men or if women are forced to “appear unclothed before males.”

Disturbingly, the Maine Principals’ Association, the governing body for sports in the state, and the Maine Department of Education have declared they would defy the presidential order and continue to allow boys to compete against girls.

At the same time, public sentiment has massively shifted in favor of President Trump’s sentiment, even among left-wing sources. According to a recent CNN poll, 79% of Americans oppose allowing “transgender female athletes” in women’s sports.

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