Clara Adams, the high school athlete disqualified for celebrating her 400m victory by spraying her shoes with a fire extinguisher, has tearfully spoken out on the impact the incident has had on her.
Adams, 16, copied the celebration first made famous by the American former 100 meter world record holder Maurice Greene when she crossed the line in first place at the California state high school track and field championships.
But the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) decided that the celebration was unsportsmanlike and stripped Adams of her championship.
‘I worked so hard for that title,’ she said in an interview with KSBW 8, fighting back tears.
‘Even if everything goes in my favor in regards to like getting my title back, I’ll still never get that moment back, like standing on the podium as a sophomore. I’ll never get that back because they took it from me.’
Her father and coach, David, handed her the fire extinguisher before racing onto the field when he saw there was an incident unfolding.
Clara Adams fought tears as she spoke about her shock disqulification this weekend
Adams’ father then handed her a fire extinguisher, with which she sprayed her track spikes off the track. The CIF then declared her celebration ‘unsportsmanlike’ and disqualified her.
Adams (leading) took home the California state championship in the 400m
He accepted that he broke rules by climbing over rails to get to his daughter, but insisted he felt outraged when he saw an official grab Clara by the arm.
‘You can’t come over the wall, you can’t be on the in-field. It is a rule, I respect it,’ he said.
‘But at this point, I explained before about being a coach and a fther and wearing different hats. I saw an official grab my daughter by the arm, yelling in her face.
‘When he grabbed her by the arm, I went over the wall. I’m a father now. I’m not coaching anymore.’
Adams was disqualified from the meet as a whole by officials for her celebrations – denying her the chance to race in a 200-meter event later.
She also received some support from none other than Greene himself, too. He told KSBW 8: ‘It happened and people started calling me – this girl won the 400 and did your celebration.
‘If it was away from everyone, and not really interfering with anybody, I would say reinstate her.’
Adams told the Monterey Herald at the time: ‘I’m disappointed and I feel robbed. I am in shock.
Adams was copying a celebration that was made famous by US sprint star Maurice Greene
‘They (officials) yelled at me and told me “we’re not letting you on the podium.” They took my moment away from me.’
Adams crossed the line with a time of 52.24 seconds, just one-hundredth slower than her state-leading time she achieved the week prior.
This came at the same state championship meet where a trans woman athlete was allowed to compete in events.
