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Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
High school sprinter stripped of state title after celebration is deemed unsportsmanlike
North Salinas sophomore Clara Adams, center, wins a preliminary heat in the girls' 400 meters Friday at the CIF State Track & Field Championships in Clovis. She finished first in the finals the next day but was stripped of the title because of a celebration that was deemed by meet officials to be unsportsmanlike. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times) North Salinas High sophomore Clara Adams ran the fastest time in the girls' 400-meter finals at the CIF State Track & Field Finals last weekend. She crossed the finish line .28 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Advertisement But Adams is not the state champion. She was stripped of that title after she used a fire extinguisher to spray her cleats while on the field inside the track moments after the race. "I was robbed," Adams, 16, told The Times shortly after being disqualified from that event as well the 200 finals, which took place later in the meet. Adams said CIF officials told her that she was being disqualified because she had been "unsportsmanlike," but that's not how she saw it at all. "I was having fun," Adams said, noting her win in the 400 marked her first state title. "I'd never won something like that before, and they took it away from me. I didn't do anything wrong." Advertisement She added: "I worked really hard for it and they took it from me, and I don't know what to do." Days later, David Adams, who said he is the sprint coach at North Salinas, told The Times his daughter was "doing better" but still trying to cope with everything that unfolded Saturday afternoon at Buchanan High in Clovis. Read more: Transgender track athlete wins gold in California state championships despite Trump threat 'Clara's hurt. She's hurt right now," David Adams said Wednesday. "She's better today than Saturday. Saturday was fresh. It just happened. It was a shock. She felt numb. They made her sit there and watch while they put those other girls on the podium, knowing Clara's the fastest 400-meter runner in the state of California.' Advertisement Clara Adams has been running competitively since age 6, her father said. She finished fourth in the 400 at last year's state meet and won the event with a state-best time of 53.23 at the Central Coast Section championships last month. After posting the top qualifying time in Friday's preliminaries, Adams surged ahead of Madison Mosby of St. Mary's Academy in Inglewood to win the race with a time of 53.24. Immediately afterward, Adams walked over to the wall in front of the stands and found her father, who reached down and handed her what he described as a "small" fire extinguisher. She then walked back across the track into the grass, where she sprayed her cleats as if she was putting out a fire — a move her father said was a tribute to former U.S. sprinter Maurice Greene, who similarly celebrated his win in the 100 at the 2004 Home Depot Invitational in Carson. CIF officials apparently were not amused and disqualified Adams on the spot, awarding first place to Mosby. According to rules established by the National Federation of State High School Assns., "unsporting conduct" is defined as behavior that includes but is not limited to 'disrespectfully addressing an official, any flagrant behavior, intentional contact, taunting, criticizing or using profanity directed toward someone.' The penalty is disqualification from the event in which the behavior took place and further competition in the meet. The CIF did not respond to a request for comment from The Times. Advertisement According to David Adams, the officials 'were really nasty" toward his daughter. They "tugged on her arm," he said, "they were screaming in her face. I could hear it from where I was at. I could see it — I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but they were just really nasty." Read more: Long Beach Poly boys' 4x400 relay team shines at state track and field championships Clara Adams said she specifically asked the officials to speak with her father about the disqualification, but they refused. "They kept telling me, 'It's OK,' and I was telling them, 'It's not OK,' and they didn't care," she said. "They were trying to smile in my face, like them telling me 'no' amused them or something." Advertisement David Adams said the officials would only speak to North Salinas head coach Alan Green, who declined to speak to The Times for this story. 'They told him that it was unsportsmanlike conduct," David Adams said of the officials' discussion with Green. "We were asking for the rule, the specific rule of what she did, and they didn't really give anything. It was more of a gray area that gives them discretion to pick and choose what they feel is unsportsmanlike conduct." Read more: Prep talk: Birmingham's Antrell Harris reaches peak form with 10.24 in 100 meters Adams disputes that his daughter behaved in a manner that could be considered unsportsmanlike. Advertisement "Looking at the film, Clara is nowhere near any opponent," he said. "She's off the track, on the grass. Her opponents are long gone off the track already, so she wasn't in their face. It was a father-daughter moment. ... She did it off the track because she didn't want to seem disrespectful toward nobody. And they still found a reason to take her title away. They didn't give her a warning or anything.' He added that his daughter is a "very humble, really sweet kid." "I take responsibility for the situation. I'm taking full responsibility," he said. "Clara has run several championship races and won and walked off the track. It's just weird that she celebrates one time and now people, these strangers, these middle-aged people want to chase after her character?" Greene, the four-time Olympic medalist who inspired Clara's celebration, told KSBW-TV in Salinas that the CIF should reconsider its decision. Advertisement Read more: Greene, Jones Run Like Wind at Carson "If [the celebration] was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her," Greene said. David Adams said he is trying to make that happen but so far the CIF won't return his calls . 'We have an attorney on standby right now," he said. "I don't want to take it there, but I will fight this all the way. As long as I'm breathing I'm gonna fight it. But we're trying to go through proper channels to give the CIF an opportunity to do the right thing. Having an attorney involved is our last resort, that means we tried everything.' Advertisement Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
High school sprinter stripped of state title after celebration is deemed unsportsmanlike
North Salinas High sophomore Clara Adams ran the fastest time in the girls' 400-meter finals at the CIF State Track & Field Finals last weekend. She crossed the finish line .28 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. But Adams is not the state champion. She was stripped of that title after she used a fire extinguisher to spray her cleats while on the field inside the track moments after the race. 'I was robbed,' Adams, 16, told The Times shortly after being disqualified from that event as well the 200 finals, which took place later in the meet. Adams said CIF officials told her that she was being disqualified because she had been 'unsportsmanlike,' but that's not how she saw it at all. 'I was having fun,' Adams said, noting her win in the 400 marked her first state title. 'I'd never won something like that before, and they took it away from me. I didn't do anything wrong.' She added: 'I worked really hard for it and they took it from me, and I don't know what to do.' Days later, David Adams, who said he is the sprint coach at North Salinas, told The Times his daughter was 'doing better' but still trying to cope with everything that unfolded Saturday afternoon at Buchanan High in Clovis. 'Clara's hurt. She's hurt right now,' David Adams said Wednesday. 'She's better today than Saturday. Saturday was fresh. It just happened. It was a shock. She felt numb. They made her sit there and watch while they put those other girls on the podium, knowing Clara's the fastest 400-meter runner in the state of California.' Clara Adams has been running competitively since age 6, her father said. She finished fourth in the 400 at last year's state meet and won the event with a state-best time of 53.23 at the Central Coast Section championships last month. After posting the top qualifying time in Friday's preliminaries, Adams surged ahead of Madison Mosby of St. Mary's Academy in Inglewood to win the race with a time of 53.24. Immediately afterward, Adams walked over to the wall in front of the stands and found her father, who reached down and handed her what he described as a 'small' fire extinguisher. She then walked back across the track into the grass, where she sprayed her cleats as if she was putting out a fire — a move her father said was a tribute to former U.S. sprinter Maurice Greene, who similarly celebrated his win in the 100 at the 2004 Home Depot Invitational in Carson. CIF officials apparently were not amused and disqualified Adams on the spot, awarding first place to Mosby. According to rules established by the National Federation of State High School Assns., 'unsporting conduct' is defined as behavior that includes but is not limited to 'disrespectfully addressing an official, any flagrant behavior, intentional contact, taunting, criticizing or using profanity directed toward someone.' The penalty is disqualification from the event in which the behavior took place and further competition in the meet. The CIF did not respond to a request for comment from The Times. According to David Adams, the officials 'were really nasty' toward his daughter. They 'tugged on her arm,' he said, 'they were screaming in her face. I could hear it from where I was at. I could see it — I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but they were just really nasty.' Clara Adams said she specifically asked the officials to speak with her father about the disqualification, but they refused. 'They kept telling me, 'It's OK,' and I was telling them, 'It's not OK,' and they didn't care,' she said. 'They were trying to smile in my face, like them telling me 'no' amused them or something.' David Adams said the officials would only speak to North Salinas head coach Alan Green, who declined to speak to The Times for this story. 'They told him that it was unsportsmanlike conduct,' David Adams said of the officials' discussion with Green. 'We were asking for the rule, the specific rule of what she did, and they didn't really give anything. It was more of a gray area that gives them discretion to pick and choose what they feel is unsportsmanlike conduct.' Adams disputes that his daughter behaved in a manner that could be considered unsportsmanlike. 'Looking at the film, Clara is nowhere near any opponent,' he said. 'She's off the track, on the grass. Her opponents are long gone off the track already, so she wasn't in their face. It was a father-daughter moment. ... She did it off the track because she didn't want to seem disrespectful toward nobody. And they still found a reason to take her title away. They didn't give her a warning or anything.' He added that his daughter is a 'very humble, really sweet kid.' 'I take responsibility for the situation. I'm taking full responsibility,' he said. 'Clara has run several championship races and won and walked off the track. It's just weird that she celebrates one time and now people, these strangers, these middle-aged people want to chase after her character?' Greene, the four-time Olympic medalist who inspired Clara's celebration, told KSBW-TV in Salinas that the CIF should reconsider its decision. 'If [the celebration] was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her,' Greene said. David Adams said he is trying to make that happen but so far the CIF won't return his calls . 'We have an attorney on standby right now,' he said. 'I don't want to take it there, but I will fight this all the way. As long as I'm breathing I'm gonna fight it. But we're trying to go through proper channels to give the CIF an opportunity to do the right thing. Having an attorney involved is our last resort, that means we tried everything.'
New York Post
2 days ago
- General
- New York Post
Winning High school track star disqualified over celebration breaks down, says: ‘I feel robbed'
The California high school track star disqualified from the CIF State Championships for celebrating her win with a fire extinguisher broke down as she spoke of the moment her dreams went up in smoke. 'I worked so hard for that title,' a tearful Clara Adams, 16, told KSBW amid the ongoing controversy. The North Salinas High School sophomore was stripped of her state championship title over the weekend after she paid homage to an Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene just moments after winning her 400-meter event. 5 Clara Adams' post-race celebration resulted in her disqualification and the stripping of her state championship title. ksbw A viral clip showed the excited teen running over and taking a fire extinguisher from her proud father before she started spraying off her spikes. California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) officials ended up disqualifying the teen sprinter and stripping her of the title after deeming the celebratory stunt unsportsmanlike. Several people who appeared to be CIF officials could be seen watching on as looked on as Clara sprayed her shoes. One of them approached her soon after the celebration and led her away, the footage shows. 'I don't know what's going through my mind right now,' the teen told the Mercury News in the aftermath. '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.' 5 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. Oceanside Dolphins Track Club/YouTube 5 Maurice Greene celebrates as teammates spray his feet with a fire extinguisher after winning the Men's 100 meter with a time of 9.86 during the Home Depot Invitational, the first invitational stop on USA Track & Field's 2004 Outdoor Golden Spike Tour on May 22, 2004 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Getty Images Her father, who is also her coach, is adamant his daughter did nothing wrong — insisting that she wasn't near any of her fellow competitors when she carried out the stunt. 'When she blew the fire extinguisher, the opponents were gone,' her dad, David, said in the KSBW interview. 5 Adams holding the fire extinguisher. @OceansideDolphins/YouTube '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.' The decision came just moments before she was slated to run in the 200-meter event, which she had been of the favorites to win. The ruling meant she wasn't allowed to compete. The decision to disqualify the track star immediately sparked widespread outrage. 5 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. Oceanside Dolphins Track Club/YouTube Maurice Greene, the sprinting icon who made the celebration famous, was among those who urged officials to overturn the decision. '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 said. 'If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.' Under 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.'
New York Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
See the shocking fire extinguisher celebration video that got 16-year-old track star stripped of state title
The moment that 16-year-old Clara Adams' CIF State Championship dreams went up in smoke was captured on video, as the controversy surrounding the teen's post-race celebration has made national headlines. Adams, a sprinter from North Salinas High School in Salinas, Calif. paid homage to a celebration made famous by American sprint icon Maurice Greene by taking a fire extinguisher from her father and spraying her spikes after winning the 400-meter event Saturday. CIF officials didn't take too kindly and disqualified her, stripping her of her state title, and that moment was visible in a video shared by KSBW. Advertisement 7 Adams hoses her shoes. 7 Adams holding the bottle. The teen could be seen standing in the infield of the track away from other participants as she bent over and started extinguishing her shoes with the fire extinguisher. Several people who appeared to be CIF officials looked on, with one almost immediately approaching her after the celebration and leading her away. Advertisement 7 Greene's celebration involving a fire extinguisher. Getty Images The celebration was ultimately deemed unsportsmanlike and she was disqualified. Advertisement The decision to disqualify Adams came moments before she was slated to run in the 200-meter event, and due to the ruling she was not allowed to run the race, which she had been of the favorites to win. Adams' father, David, insisted that 'the opponents were gone' when she used the fire extinguisher and said that CIF officials 'made it about them.' 7 The Adams family. 7 Adams holding the extinguisher after being handed it by her father. @OceansideDolphins/YouTube Advertisement '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,' he told the TV station. Adams does have one big supporter in her corner, with Greene himself indicating that he was happy that she did his celebration and felt that she should get her title back. 7 Adams shakes the extinguisher. 7 Adams being talked to after the celebration. Greene used the celebration when he won the 100-meter dash in 2004 at the Home Depot Invitational. '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 said. 'If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.'
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Ex-Olympic star Maurice Greene reacts after HS girl gets disqualified over fire extinguisher celebration
Former American track and field star Maurice Greene spoke out on Monday as California high school officials disqualified a rising sprint star for performing the celebration he made famous. Sophomore Clara Adams, of North Salinas High School, finished in second place in the 400 prelims and came off the starting line quickly in the 400 finals and ran her way to a first-place finish, or so she thought. Adams celebrated with her father after winning the race. She took a fire extinguisher from her father and sprayed her shoes with it, alluding to her being on fire, the Monterey Herald reported. Greene performed the fire extinguisher celebration after he won the 100-meter dash at the 2004 Home Depot Invitational. "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?" he told KSBW-TV on Monday. "If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her," the former Olympian said. Adams' father, David, said the celebration was done away from any of her opponents. "I have video of it," he told the Monterey Herald. "She was on the other side of the wall. I told her to step off the track. She did not spray her shoes on the track. We have protested the decision. I feel it was racially motivated." He explained further to KSBW-TV. "When she blew the fire extinguisher, the opponents were gone," he told the station. "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." The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) upheld the decision to disqualify Clara Adams from the 400. She then learned she could not compete in the 200 either. Fox News Digital reached out to the CIF for comment. In the wake of the incident, a petition was circulated to reinstate Adams' win. It has received more than 1,700 signatures as of Tuesday morning. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
