Transgender BMX rider confronts protesters after social media posts celebrating Charlie Kirk's death

Chelsea Wolfe, a U.S. BMX cyclist who was an alternate on the American women's team at the Tokyo Olympics, was filmed trading words with female protesters while preparing for a women's race, according to video and social media posts circulated online.

In the footage, Wolfe repeatedly told the women to “go suck a sawn‑off shotgun” as they questioned whether Wolfe, a transgender competitor, should be racing in a female category. The exchange included other heated remarks; protesters are heard challenging her inclusion in women's events and Wolfe is heard responding with profanity and, at one point, the comment "We don't f**k with fascists. That's how we feel about Nazis around these parts. This is America. We kill Nazis."

The confrontation came days after Wolfe posted a series of messages on her Instagram story that appeared to celebrate the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot while participating in a campus event and later died, according to reporting and the social media material shared online. One Instagram story shared a news item about the shooting with an animated caption and the words "We did it!" Another showed Wolfe giving a thumbs up and a caption that read in part, "Being a Nazi is completely optional btw. He didn't have to do all that, but he did and now he's dead. Don't live your life in a way that the world is better following your death."

Wolfe also reshared a social media message that described Kirk as a "fascist organizer" who spread racism and other forms of bigotry, and the reshared post urged followers not to expect others to mourn him. The posts prompted criticism on social media and comment from public figures; tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova called the messages “sickening” in a public response.

Wolfe first drew national attention in 2021 as an alternate on the U.S. BMX team for the Tokyo Olympic Games, and at the time she became the first openly transgender athlete to qualify for the Olympics for the United States in any discipline. Wolfe had publicly said she underwent a gender transition before competing in amateur BMX in 2014. Her competitive career in women's BMX was affected in 2023 after the Union Cycliste Internationale, international cycling's governing body, issued regulations that excluded transgender athletes from women's competition.

The online posts and the confrontation with protesters highlight ongoing tensions around transgender athletes' participation in women's sports and the polarization of public discourse following the shooting of a national conservative activist. Wolfe has posted provocative commentary in the past; in a 2020 Facebook post she wrote of plans at the Tokyo Games to "burn a US flag on the podium," a comment that also drew backlash.

Representatives for Wolfe did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The protesters in the video identified themselves as opponents of her participation in women's events and said they were demonstrating outside the race to express that view. Organizers and race officials at the event have not issued a public statement, and local authorities did not immediately report any arrests connected to the filmed confrontation.

Kirk's death and the reactions to it have sparked widespread coverage and strong responses across the political spectrum. Reporting on the shooting said Kirk collapsed after being struck by a single bullet at a Q&A event at a Utah university and was later pronounced dead. Kirk is survived by his wife and two young children, and his death has prompted statements from political allies and public figures condemning the attack.

The episode adds to a pattern of contentious public moments involving athletes, identity and politics, and underscores the challenges race organizers and governing bodies face in addressing protests and safety while navigating rapidly circulating social media commentary from competitors and public figures.