Riley Gaines makes her stance crystal clear on baton-striking controversy involving Virginia high school track and field runner

Riley Gaines has expressed her anger over the viral baton-striking controversy involving Virginia high school track runner Alaila Everett, who gave opponent Brookville junior Kaelen Tucker a concussion during a relay race. Everett said she didn't do it intentionally.

Everett is a senior at the I.C. Norcom High School and appeared to strike Tucker multiple times on her head during a relay race at the VHSL Class 3 State Indoor Championships in Virginia. Tucker, a Brookville junior, fell out of the track after receiving a concussion and possible skull fracture.

A short clip of the incident went viral over the internet, with everyone getting together to criticize Everett. However, the high school senior said she “would never hit someone on purpose”.

Former All-American swimmer Riley Gaines believes otherwise and posted on X:

"WHAT there was nothing accidental about this ????"

Everett and her entire team were disqualified for "contact interference". However, Vincent Pugh, former citywide athletic director at Portsmouth Public Schools, argued that Tucker was running close to the sprinter.

Everett also suggested that Tucker was running close to her and that she accidentally struck her after losing her balance.

"After a couple times of hitting her, my baton got stuck behind her back like this, and it rolled up her back. I lost my balance when I pumped my arms again. She got hit," Everett said in an interview with WAVY. "I know my intentions and I would never hit someone on purpose."

There has been widespread anger directed towards Everett, with the sprinter claiming she was subjected to “racial slurs” and “death threats."

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"Definitely not something I would rule out" - Riley Gaines on running for office amid fight against trans participation in women's sports

Riley Gaines Speaks At Turning Point Inaugural-Eve Ball Held In Washington, D.C. - Source: Getty

Riley Gaines has been at the forefront of the fight against the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports. She has turned into a full-time activist following the 2022 Lia Thomas incident, and after helping US President Donald Trump capitalize on national outrage over transgender participation in women's sports, she is open to taking the matter into her own hands.

"It's never what I saw myself doing," Riley Gaines told Fox News on March 4.

"But now, of course, with this issue and more, I would say the whole America-first agenda. I am just so passionate, I care so deeply, and I love it, so we'll see. It's definitely not something I would rule out. I don't think I'm that crazy yet, because I do think you have to be a bit clinically insane to voluntarily do that. But I do believe that maybe eventually influencing policy in that way is something I see myself doing," she added.

Gaines majored in health sciences at the University of Kentucky and planned to pursue dentistry before turning into an anti-trans activist. She is a four-time SEC medalist and has 12 NCAA All-American honors to her name.