High School Track Champion Disqualified for Spraying Her Shoes with Fire Extinguisher in Celebration
NEED TO KNOW
Clara Adams won the 400-meter final at the California state championships but was disqualified and stripped of her medal due to her celebration
The athlete sprayed her shoes with a fire extinguisher
The celebratory move was an homage to a former Olympian who once did the same thing after a win
A California high school athlete was disqualified and stripped of her gold medal after she celebrated on the track with a fire extinguisher.
Clara Adams, a sophomore sprinter from North Salinas High School, lost her state championship title in the 400-meter final on Saturday, May 31 after she sprayed her shoes with the device, according to KSBW-TV.
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"I worked so hard for that title," Adams, 16, told the station of the race, in which she finished first in 53.24 seconds.
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) deemed her celebration 'unsportsmanlike' and she received a DQ — all of which does not sit well with Adams, her father and the man to whom she was paying homage, retired Olympic racing legend Maurice Greene.
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Greene, 50, famously extinguished his own 'smoking hot' spikes on the track after he won the 100-meter dash in 2004.
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"When I heard 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 station. "If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her."
Matthew Stockman/Getty Maurice Greene in 2004.
Maurice Greene in 2004.
The athlete's father, who also serves as her coach, David Adams, is similarly pushing back on the extent of Clara's punishment.
"When she blew the fire extinguisher, the opponents were gone," he 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."
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In footage from the race, David Adams is seen handing his daughter the extinguisher. The news station reported that he then climbed over the railing — which is also against the rules — to address CIF officials.
'I saw an official grab my daughter by the arm, they were yelling in her face,' Adams said. 'I'm a father now, I'm not coach any more.'
According to the station, in the last 20 years of state championships, no other athletes have been disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct.
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