A California high school track star’s post-race celebration that paid homage to an Olympic gold medalist resulted in her disqualification and the stripping of her state championship title by outraged officials.
North Salinas High School sophomore Clara Adams had just crossed the finish line as the winner in the 400 meters at Buchanan High in Clovis on Saturday when the excited teen ran over to her father to celebrate, the Mercury News reported.
Her proud father, David, handed his daughter a fire extinguisher, and away from her competitors, she sprayed on her shoes as if they were on fire.
However, the moment was quickly extinguished by California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) officials, who viewed Adams’ actions as unsportsmanlike and disqualified her.
“I don’t know what’s going through my mind right now,” Adams told the Mercury News.
“I’m disappointed and I feel robbed. I am in shock. They (officials) yelled at me and told me, ‘We’re not letting you on the podium.’ They took my moment away from me.”
That decision was handed down minutes before the young track star was about to run the 200 meters, but because she was disqualified for what was ruled an unsportsmanlike act, Adams was not allowed to run the race where she was one of the favorites to win.
Her father, who is also her sprinting coach, is adamant that his daughter did nothing wrong, and when she celebrated, she wasn’t near any of her competitors in the 400m sprint.
“When she blew the fire extinguisher, the opponents were gone,” David told KSBW.
“That was our moment of celebration, and CIF officials made it about them. The crowd went crazy, they loved it, the CIF booth went crazy, they loved it. But those few guys in those jackets took offense to it, didn’t like it, and made a decision based off emotions.”
Adams’ disqualification caught the attention of the man who made the celebration she did famous — a US Olympic gold medalist and sprinting icon, Maurice Greene.
“When I heard, cause it happened, and then people just started calling me ‘This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration’ I was like huh? What?” Greene told the outlet.
The sprinter — who took home the gold for the US in the 100m and 4 × 100m relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics said he feels CIF officials should reconsider their decision.
“If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her,” the Olympian said.
Despite being the fastest runner in the 400m dash on Saturday, with a time of 53.24 seconds, Adams went home empty-handed.
Adams finished in first place in the 400m dash at the Central Coast Section Championships and finished first in three races at the Pacific Coast Athletic League Masters Meet in May.
There have not been any other instances of disqualification for unsportsmanlike conduct in the past 20 years, according to KSBW.
According to CIF’s code of conduct, athletes are expected to “be a good sport, teach and model class, be gracious in victory and accept defeat with dignity; encourage student-athletes to give fallen opponents a hand, compliment extraordinary performance, and show sincere respect in pre- and post-game rituals.”