Nikki Hiltz, an American Olympic runner who identifies as transgender nonbinary, reacted to the Supreme Court ruling on transgender athletes on Saturday.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of West Virginia and Idaho on Tuesday against trans athletes who sued to gain access to girls’ sports. The states were backed by the law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), while the trans athletes were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Cooley Legal.
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Nikki Hiltz reacts after winning the women’s 1,500m in a meet record 3:55.33 during the US Olympic Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 30, 2024. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
In the highly anticipated rulings in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, the high court upheld state laws requiring student-athletes to compete on sports teams that correspond with their biological sex at birth rather than their gender identity.
Hiltz competed in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, winning the mile race with a 4:17.49.
“I wasn’t surprised, but I was obviously still disappointed,” Hiltz said of the ruling, via The Athletic. “For me, I want to show that trans people can be in sport, be affirmed in their gender. We’re not these big, scary things.”
Hiltz added, “It’s a really weird time in our country for a lot of different communities, mine specifically.”
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Nikki Hiltz (USA) after the women’s 1,500 meter final during the World Athletics Championships at National Stadium on Sept. 16, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Hiltz, who has always competed in women’s races, previously opened up about gender identity.
“The best way I can explain my gender is as fluid,” Hiltz wrote in an Instagram post last year. “Sometimes I wake up feeling like a powerful queen and other days I wake up feeling as if I’m just a guy being a dude, and other times I identify outside of the gender binary entirely.”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the Supreme Court opinion.
“Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex,” the opinion read.
Now, more than half of the states in the U.S. are empowered to enforce the protection of women’s sports without fear of a legal challenge.
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Nikki Hiltz, of the U.S.A. celebraters winning the Women’s Wanamaker Mile, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, during the Millrose Games, in New York City. Hiltz won with a time of 4:19.64. (Kevin R. Wexler / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
However, there are still 23 states, including California, New York and Massachusetts, that don’t have any such laws, and some of those have laws to protect trans athletes in girls’ sports.
’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
