HS track star DQ'ed over fire extinguisher celebration after win

USA Today

2 days ago

HS track star DQ'ed over fire extinguisher celebration after win
A California track runner was disqualified and stripped of her title after high school sports officials deemed her victory celebration unsportsmanlike.
Clara Adams, a sophomore track star at North Salinas High School, had her 400 meter dash title taken away after her dad handed her a fire extinguisher to celebrate on Saturday. She sprayed the fire extinguisher on her spikes, much like sprinter Maurice Greene during a 2004 celebration.
California sports officials disqualified her for the act, stripping her of her title and preventing her from participating in her other race.
Clara was shocked when she realized she was being reprimanded, she told Fox News.
'When the officials told me that I would be disqualified, I was just sent into shock,' she said. 'They just took my moment away from me that quick.'
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's requests for comment on June 5 and neither did the Salinas Union High School District.
Reactions pour in
Clara is a sophomore track runner at North Salinas High School, about 58 miles south of San Jose. She is a member of the Central Coast Cheetahs track team and is slated to graduate in 2027, per her Instagram account.
She was competing over the weekend in the CIF state finals. She won the 400 meter dash over the weekend and still had the 200 meter race to compete in.
Her father and coach, David Adams, admitted to handing her the fire extinguisher to celebrate that day, he told news station KION-TV.
As Clara celebrated her win over the weekend, one announcer laughed off the celebration.
"She knows what she did today,' the announcer said, laughing. "Clapping it up. She's hype ... She had a fire extinguisher on the track. I love the way we're having fun with the sport."
And once community members got wind of her disqualification, some called for it to be reversed, sharing a clip of Greene's celebration in 2004.
Greene has chimed in on the situation, according to multiple news outlets such as KSBW and KABC-TV.
'This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration,'' he recalled the callers saying. 'I was like huh? What?" Greene said. "If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her."
Teen's father: 'I'm the one that handed it to her'
David Adams, Clara's father and coach, told Fox News that his daughter was celebrating off the track and on the grass so she wouldn't be seen as taunting the other runners.
'Make sure you're (facing) yourself,' he recalled telling her. 'You're facing me, not your opponents, which, they were already 40, 50 meters away.'
According to Clara's father, he has been training her since she was 5 and she started competing at just 6, he told KION-TV. The pair vowed that this year, the 10th year working together, would be special for them, 'like a movie.'
'It just went left with the disqualification,' he said, adding that they still had hope since she still had to run the 200 meter race.
'Clara was crying,' her father said. 'Watching her hurt, it hurt me. I take responsibility over everything because I'm the one that handed (the fire extinguisher) to her.'
He said he would've been OK leaving the stadium if it meant his daughter was able to stay and compete.
'I'm the adult,' he said. 'Reprimand me, not the kid.'
Father thinks discipline may be racially motivated
When Fox News' Will Cain asked her father if he has evidence that Clara's disqualification was racially motivated, her father said history shows it likely is. When White athletes celebrate, it's often viewed as passion that's good for the sport, her father said.
'When a Black girl or a Black boy or a Brown girl or a Brown boy, they celebrate, it's deemed as unprofessional, unsportsmanlike, it's ghetto, so why is it OK for one to celebrate and not the other?' he asked. 'We've seen that before. It's nothing new. I'm not making this up.'
When Cain asked the father and daughter how they felt about her disqualification when the CIF allows transgender athletes such as AB Hernandez to compete, the pair said they were perplexed.
"It's being celebrated, basically," David Adams said. "She can jump very well ... They celebrated AB Hernandez on the podium, and Clara was disqualified for having a celebration. We're lost on that ... I'm confused because now ... I've got to worry about an AB Hernandez jumping into the 400 meters next year?"
More: Transgender athlete shares 2 titles at California state track and field meet
Her father told KION-TV that his daughter is a good kid who works hard on and off the track. She has a 3.8 grade point average. He said he is a man of faith, and he was told his daughter will likely be able to compete in the Nike Outdoor Nationals in a few weeks.
'She's 16,' he said. 'She'll be the youngest one … This national meet is bigger than the CIF state meet.'
Contributing: Barry Werner, USA TODAY High School Sports
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at [e-mail].