Transgender heiress, 14, steals victory from her own SISTER at California race
A transgender rich kid with a famous grandfather is facing scrutiny after winning a hotly contested track race in California where he beat his sister.
Lina Haaga, born Paul Haaga, won the women’s varsity 400 meter race at the Prep League Championship Finals last week. Reduxx.
Haaga, who attended the fancy $48,900-a-year Polytechnic School in Pasadena, completed the race in 59.45 seconds, narrowly edging out her sister Sienna, who was in the next grade.
The win on April 29 was Lina’s personal best in the 400-meter relay.
The 14-year-old was also part of the school’s 400-meter relay team during the competition and helped the team win the gold medal in that race as well.
His sister, Sienna, attends Flintridge Preparatory School, which costs $50,750 a year.
They are the grandchildren of former NPR CEO Paul Haaga Jr.
Pictures released by the school’s athletics team showed Haaga smiling as he announced the double win.
Lina Haaga, born Paul Haaga, won the women’s 400-meter university race at the Prep League Championship Finals last week.
Haaga (far right) was also on the winning girls relay team at Polytechnic School in Pasadena
However, the news, first reported by Reduxx, caused a stir on the internet. One commenter wrote: ‘Is it really satisfying to be 5 seconds slower than a mediocre male runner and take the gold medal from your own sister?’
Another said: ‘Sad for California girls. If sanity returns, be gentle.’
A third added: ‘Imagine sending your daughter to school that costs $50k a year and having to deal with this nonsense.’
But others came to Haaga’s defence: ‘Good luck to Lina. She seems like a good girl and is having a great season. It’s so much fun to see kids competing, having fun and doing their best.’
Haaga transitioned from male to female at a ‘young age’ and participated in numerous girls’ sports teams, including basketball, swimming, water polo and tennis.
In an extremely sympathetic profile published Guard Earlier this year, Haaga said the hatred people felt towards transgender players in women’s sport was ‘frightening’.
He said he felt robbed of his precious ‘moment of happiness’ while playing sports because he was afraid of what people would think when he played against girls.
Haaga said: ‘The political climate has questioned my relationship with sport.
‘Instead of this being something innocent that I could enjoy without fear of discrimination, I now had to worry every time I stepped onto the track or field that someone might object to my participation.
Paul Haaga Jr., former Executive Vice President and CEO of NPR, is pictured with his wife, Heather. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Capital Research and Management Company, which manages over $3 trillion in assets and equity capital.
‘It was really scary because it started stealing something precious to me, that moment of happiness.’
The trans girl said she would continue playing women’s sports as an ‘act of resistance’.
‘Playing sport and loving being on the field is a beautiful act of resistance in itself,’ he told The Guardian.
Haaga is the grandson of former NPR Executive Vice President and CEO Paul Haaga Jr.
He is also the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Equity Research and Management Company, which manages over $3 trillion in assets and equity capital.
Haaga Jr is currently the chairman of the Facebook Oversight Board.
Lina Haaga’s family has been contacted for comment.
The Trump administration is suing the California Department of Education and CIF, claiming their transgender-inclusive sports policies violate the civil rights of cisgender athletes.
Last year, California Governor Newsom broke the party line and said it was ‘deeply unfair’ for transgender athletes to compete in women’s and girls’ sports.
