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On April 19, US Olympic medium-distance runner Nikki Hiltz posted a Tiktok video containing footage of an interview with women's marathon runner Natalie Daniels. This post came just two days ago, with Daniels scheduled to compete in the Boston Marathon, just six months after she gave birth to her first child.
Hiltz's Tiktok opened with a clip of Daniels, sharing how biologically male trans athletes thought they weren't competing in the marathon as they compete in the women's field. The clip was originally from a promotional interview with activist sportswear brand XX-XY Athletics.
In the same post on the popular social media platform, Hiltz encouraged Daniels to drop out due to concerns about trans-inclusion.
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Nikki Hiltz responds after winning the women's 1,500m with 3:55.33 Meat Records on June 30, 2024 at the US Olympic Team Trial at Hayward Field, Oregon. (Kirby Lee-Usa Today Sports)
For Hiltz, this post coincided with the athlete's regular Tiktok content. This often shows that Olympians promote transgender beliefs and oppose opposition to trans inclusion in sports. Hiltz is a biologically female athlete who competes in the female category while identifying as transgender and non-binary.
Shortly after Hiltz's Tiktok Post was released, the response was aimed at Daniels. Daniels said many of Hiltz's followers and fans have begun sending amazing messages.
“I didn't think there was this fierce cruelty,” Daniels told Fox News Digital about the reaction she received from the interview. “When we were in Boston, people were trying to find us.”
Daniels claims that one person told her, “I live in Boston and I'll corner you if I can see you on the street.”
California Girls Track Athlete opens by losing the No. 1 title to trance competitors
Marathon runner Natalie Daniels will be held at the Boston Marathon on April 21, 2025. (Commentary of Natalie Daniels)
The new mother said the worst comment she saw was from someone who said, “I hope your son comes out as a trans person and never talks about it again.”
Daniels said he will ultimately take responsibility for the message directed towards her and her family. Still, she cited Hiltz's Tiktok, who contributed to the backlash.
“There's also (Hilz) freedom of speech, so it's effective that (Hilz's) opinions are shared as much as mine,” Daniels said. “I think (Hiltz) encouraged a really unruly mountain. I don't think it's surprising that very quickly… (Hiltz) did nothing about it.
“I think I'm responsible for what I said in the end, and I know what I said was told from love and a desire to continue supporting women and women's sports.”
Still, it didn't make the experience easier for Daniels.
“The very hateful message was upset. I just had him there and I don't want to cry, but I just started crying,” she said. “And I said to my husband, “Sorry, it seems a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot, it' ”
The runners will cross the starting line for the 125th Boston Marathon in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, file)
“Instead of this very reasonable involvement, they went straight to threats and violence.”
Fox News Digital responded to Hawi Management, the talent agency of Hiltz.
When the Boston Marathon day came on April 21, Daniels heckled against her on the course after warning her for a potential attack. But instead, she claims she has heard a hymn of support for ro-sound. She even had one of the best finishes, reaching the finish line at 2:50:04 in 110th place.
She continued on social media. She saw that a pour of praise and respect masked the support she eventually stood up for women's sports and appeared in the XX-XY Athletics interview.
For Daniels, it helped her validate the decisions she made because of her experience as a new mother. During her pregnancy, Daniels said her trip to an obstetrician was due to her failure to contraceptive, and included investigations, not her own intentions.
“In society, I feel that there is this reductive definition of what it means to be a woman and what it means to be a woman. It's basically access to abortion. And in our culture, it seems that everything we cares,” said Daniels, from Virginia. She added that the growing cultural stigmatization of research and pregnancy has directly fed its passion to protect female athletes from trans-inclusion.
“I know these things may be different, but they are all tied to the dehumanization of women. For me, in this culture, in this political climate, femininity is this incredibly vague and indefinable thing,” she added.
The decision won the praise and support of Daniels in the marathon and online, but claims she is more aligned with Hiltz than her, not from her running club, the Washington, DC.
Daniels said he faced a decision that would appear in an XX-XY Athletics interview by the club's leadership.
Runner Natalie Daniels, left, Nikki Hiltz. (Courtesy of Natalie Daniels/Getty Images)
Daniels said she offered to issue a statement that made it clear that her stance was not intended to attack trans people for their own identity, but not to stand up for women like her. But that wasn't enough, she said.
She claims she offered to continue running to the club if she issued an apology and publicly recognized the ability of a biological man to become a woman.
Daniels claims the club has told her she must share a statement on social media in order for her to appease the manager.
“I'm 'I'm not going to do that. I can't do that…” It's completely against my Christian values,” she said. “It's totally against what I know about how God works.”
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Daniels said he met up with the removal from the team via text messages and emails from the board while sitting on the patio.
So now she's starting her own running club with XX-XY Athletics and founder Jennifer Sey.
And while still adapting to regular online hatred, and even the occasional heckle from the competition audience, Daniels said he looks forward to raising her family and embracing her new role in the movement to keep trans athletes out of women's sports.
The Light Horse Track Club did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Fox News Digital.
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