Oregon high school athletes who went viral for trans rival protest receive award for stunning act of defiance

A pair of Oregon high school athletes were honored on Thursday night after they protested the inclusion of a transgender athlete during a May meet.

Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School, and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School finished in fourth and third place respectively at the high school state championships in Oregon.

And amid a trans opponent finishing tied for fifth place, Eckard and Anderson refused to step onto the podium afterwards.

As seen in footage obtained by Fox News, the girls turned heir backs to the crowd before being ushered away from the ceremony by an official.

Now, the pair have been presented with the Most Valuable Patriot Award at FOX Nation’s Patriot Awards.

'In that moment, I had an opportunity to stand up for what I believed in. I knew I couldn't just act like this was a normal meet,' Anderson said as she accepted the award.

'Stepping off the podium for me was a pretty simple decision,' Eckard added. 'I wanted to make a stand for all the female athletes.'

As they repeated on Thursday, their protest was not appreciated but at least one official, who asked them to get out of the photos if they were going to turn their backs.

'... It felt like we weren't allowed to express our disagreement,' Eckard said. 'I'm proud of the courage God gave me in the moment to stand up for what was right and to stand up for all the female athletes who are afraid to speak out on this issue.'

The pair were also praised as 'heroines' by Riley Gaines, who has been a fervent voice advocating against trans athletes in sports.

Shortly after the incident, Anderson said on Fox: 'It's unfair because biological males and biological females compete at such different levels that letting a biological male into our competition is taking up space and opportunities from all these hardworking women.

'The girl in ninth who should have came in eighth and had that podium spot taken away from her, as well as many others.'

Anderson insisted at the time, in a separate interview with Fox, that she was not trying to stir hatred towards the trans community.

'We didn't refuse to stand on the podium out of hate,' she said. 'We did it because someone has to say this isn't right.

'In order to protect the integrity and fairness of girls sports we must stand up for what is right.'

The girls' protest came after President Donald Trump passed the  'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order in February, which threatens to deny federal funding to state governments who allow trans women to compete in women's sports.