16-year-old stripped of state championship over celebration

[Auggie]

A 16-year-old athlete from North Salinas High School was disqualified from the California Interscholastic Federation State Championships in Clovis (Fresno County) on Saturday over a post-race celebration that officials deemed unsportsmanlike, stripping her of her state title in the 400-meter event.

Clara Adams, a sophomore and heavy favorite in both the 400- and 200-meter races, had just clinched victory in the 400 final with a time of 53.24 seconds when she ran off the track to celebrate with her coach and father David Adams, according to the Monterey Herald.

In a tribute to Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene, Clara sprayed her shoes with a fire extinguisher — mimicking the celebration the sprinter popularized.

Though the crowd and even the CIF broadcast booth appeared to cheer the moment, meet officials quickly disqualified Adams — barring her from the podium and disqualifying her from the rest of the meet, including the 200-meter final.

https://eedition.sfchronicle.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&pubid=c125557b-9f70-4756-bc51-268770939d87&id=63485914-ef91-470c-8a41-dd37c84db994

According to the link, Adams left the meet without a medal. She was the fastest 400-meter runner in California this season. In 20 years of state championships, no other disqualification for unsportsmanlike conduct has been recorded.

This is so wrong. A warning would have sufficed. She's 16.

[LakeVermilion]

1. This is something that ANT would do...

I agree, unless there is more to the story.

[marble falls]

6. I bet the officials were GOPers who looked a lot like me or my wife. We aren't GOPers, though.

[marble falls]

2. That was pretty darn tame. I hope that official can't sleep at night for a while. Just unfair and over the top.

Just wish the article wasn't fire-walled. Thanks for the video!

Good article here: https://runningmagazine.ca/the-scene/california-sprinter-stripped-of-state-title-for-hilarious-celebration/

[Auggie]

4. Apologies for not mentioning the firewall

The story as printed in the San Francisco Chronicle was about seven paragraphs -- I got the important parts.

[marble falls]

5. No problems! It ain't you, it's news sources expecting us to subscribe to 50 different news sources.!

[sop]

7. "News sources expecting us to subscribe to 50 different news sources."

Great point.

[appmanga]

17. That's part of high school sports...

...and I'm sure this is shared with the coaches, who should filter it down to their student/athletes that excessive celebrations, or celebrations that use props aren't allowed.

[marble falls]

18. The celebration was not over the top. Period.

[appmanga]

20. When you use a prop in a celebration in high school...

...that's over the top.

[LauraInLA]

30. It's not perfect, but you can almost always use archive.ph ;)

[Jilly_in_VA]

3. How utterly stupid

of the OFFICIAL. She's a kid, FFS. Let her have her moment. It's not like it was on the track or harming anyone. I hope the official doesn't sleep for a whole YEAR!

[NoRethugFriends]

8. It's disrespectful and ignorant as hell

A 16-year-old is old enough to show some class.
As certainly her coach and farther should have been,

[Auggie]

10. She was egged on by her father. He handed her the extinguisher.

But a warning would have been enough.

[Renew Deal]

29. The problem with a "warning" is that everyone doing it subsequently will think there are no consequences.

This is the warning to everyone else.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

26. Did her dad buy an extinguisher to use, or liberate it from the facilities?

Yes, wasteful, costs money to recharge, check & certify fire extinguisher $100? If it is facility's property then it's basically vandalism. Winning a race doesn't give her or father a right to vandalism.

[Butterflylady]

31. Maybe he brought his on

Just for this occasion, if she won.

[Butterflylady]

27. FCO, this isn't the Olympics, let the kid have her day......

She won and that should be the last of it. Don't make a mountain out of molehill.

[NoRethugFriends]

33. Well, actually, I'll take my advice ...

... from someone who doesn't believe the location of the planets when I was born has any meaning

[Tetrachloride]

9. the spanish inquisition vs uppity sophomore

[NoRethugFriends]

16. I think you need a little more research on what the Spanish Inquisition was

[Tetrachloride]

34. god said no

[Silent Type]

11. Searched to see if reinstated, nope. However at least one media source -- FOX -- had to bring in transgender

athletes and apparently Adams' dad has brought it up too.

"Track athlete who lost medal for celebration laments her punishment while trans athlete took girls' titles
Her father also claims racial bias in daughter's disqualification"

""I watched AB Hernandez jump. AB Hernandez is talented. She can jump against those girls, she can jump very well. I watched her jump, I watched myself, I saw it, and they celebrated AB Hernandez on the podium, and Clara was disqualified for having a celebration, so that's where we're kind of lost. Our families are lost on that, we're lost on that right there, we're very lost on that."

""I'm confused now. Do I have to worry about AB Hernandez jumping into the 400m next year?"

"David Adams also doubled-down on the belief that the decision to revoke his daughter's title was racially motivated. "I know for a fact that the history of our country when it comes to celebrations, when a White girl celebrates or a White boy celebrates, it's called, 'He’s passionate. It's good for the sport. We need this for the sport.' But when a Black girl or Black boy or Brown girl or Brown boy, they celebrate, it's deemed as unprofessional, unsportsmanlike, it's ghetto," he said. "So why is it OK for one to celebrate but not the other?"

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/track-athlete-who-lost-medal-celebration-laments-her-punishment-while-trans-athlete-took-girls-titles

[appmanga]

19. I haven't officiated high school sports for a while...

...but using a prop as part of a celebration is different, and is crossing a line coaches and student/athletes should know exists. High school ain't the show business of the NFL, NBA, or professional sports leagues. Sportsmanship and propriety are still things high school sports organizations are concerned with even if the rest of the country doesn't care about such things. I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut this is in the rule book.

Pops and his daughter screwed up, and should own that instead of blaming something else.

[Renew Deal]

28. The father is a big part of the problem

Helping her perform an unsportsmanlike celebration, blaming others and not taking accountability, and jumping on the track to confront people.

[dchill]

12. She competed. She won. Does whoever came in second really...

...want the medal? Or deserve it?

[LittleGirl]

13. A little cocky

for 16 years old. I agree that she went too far. She'll learn. She'll recover.

[happy feet]

15. Cocky?

She trained, disciplined herself and earned winning the race. So, she won, but not with the right attitude for you to keep what she earned? Just asking to understand.

[LittleGirl]

21. Yes, her and her father's bringing out the fire extinguisher

were cocky. Sure, it's a nice joke, but being a professional athlete does not allow that.

I grew up watching Notre Dame football games and for decades, they have scolded players for their outrageous acts while celebrating a touchdown, interception etc. They have not allowed the extreme displays that show a lack of sportsmanship. It's unprofessional and while in high school, this is the best time to learn that lesson.

She deserves the title for her race. The fire extinguisher blew it. Unfair, maybe, but a fire extinguisher? Over the top.

[LisaM]

36. You are supposed to learn sportsmanship at the high school level

My dad was a high school coach for 40 years. Sportsmanship is part of it, and so are the rules (which the coach should be emphasizing).

In particular, being a gracious winner matters. I could excuse some behavior after a tough loss, but this is just posturing and no doubt made her opponents feel bad.

I'd you can't learn to be a good sport at this age, it might never happen. I always liked Barry Sanders' style; he just quietly handed the ball to the officials after a touchdown.

[Cirsium]

23. Running while Black

Too uppity.

[LittleGirl]

37. I'm sure that contributed to this, no doubt.

Our little girls need to be extra special to maintain their competitiveness.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

32. Male analogy? Couldn't say "brazen", "brash", ... ? . . . nt

[Fil1957]

14. A warning or slap on the wrist would have sufficed.

[Squaredeal]

22. Unsportsmanlike.

We should all agree that high school sports shouldn’t emulate this behavior, especially when it’s promoted by his ignorant, crass parent. A 16-year-old athlete knows better than to act this way, despite her poor parenting. It’s a stark, but deserved learning experience for her that her dad didn’t instill and a reminder for others not to act like this.

[LoisB]

24. Personally, I think the officials were petty. It's not as if she did it on the track or taunted

the other runners. I thought her "celebration" was pretty tame.

[Renew Deal]

25. It is what it is

This is high school sports, and the rules are pretty tight. The guys in the jackets didn't take it away from her. She took it away from herself.

Also, she says she sprayed it away from competitors, but a lot of other people were hit with the cloud.

She doesn't deserve reinstatement. The way things are with courts these days, it's possible, but it shouldn't happen. Try again at the next one, whether that's in HS or college.

[Wuddles440]

35. Sorry folks,...

but speaking as a veteran T&F official, her action certainly qualifies as being unsportsmanlike and the subsequent disqualification was justified. Her father also should have been removed from the venue. It's an athletic competition and not a carnival sideshow. However and not to excuse their behavior, but she and her father obviously have been influenced by the toxic media which encourages and promotes such self-gratifying displays by our athletic gladiators. The more outrageous, the better.

[Auggie]

39. No. Let her keep the medal. She trained hard for it.

Don't blame her for her father's stupidity.

[Wuddles440]

40. Just because...

someone "trains hard" it doesn't justify unacceptable, boorish behavior by any competitor and tolerating such antics only encourages more outrageous displays in the future. Despite achieving similar success in various events, no other competitors felt the need to promote their accomplishment in this manner. The medal being awarded speaks for itself and the character of the athlete accepting it.

[cksmithy]

38. I wanted to add a little context, as someone who grew up in north Monterey County, area know as Prunedale, the sticks,

who attended the brand new Alisal High School, Alisal, CA, a suburb/town to Salinas, that had only one black student my entire 4 years there (grad 1969). My husband, attended North Salinas High, (grad 1967) had a few black students then. Salinas was very segregated to African Americans, but there were lots of Mexican Americans. My husband and his friends, lots of other high schoolers, worked in the fields before and after school along with Mexican Americans field workers. We moved to Fresno in the early1980's biggest mistake of our lives, politically.
Clovis is Maga republican from the school superintendent, school board, principals, teachers, mayor, city council, etc. If the officials running the event, had anything to do with Clovis, there was racism involved. They just saw a snooty black kid from the coast. Salinas is/was less than 15 minutes to good beaches/surfing, hubby was a surfer. We had the fog and wind, could almost set your clock by it. If it was a white central valley boy, who did the fire extinguisher stunt, the Clovis officials, would have praised him.
I am 100% white, according to 23 and me, my husband is Irish, German and Sicilian, who tans very easily. Both of our daughters experienced racism in the Fresno school district. Our kids were asked by kids in elementary school, if they were black, Mexican or adopted because I have blond hair and green eyes. Both of them have a naturally dark skin tone, and brown hair. My oldest daughter, whose hair was brown/black, with a dark olive summer tan, was asked by a professor at Fresno state, if she was black, in front of the class, who knows why, he was probably from Clovis. Ugh. this area is so full of racism.
Thank goodness, we live in a somewhat liberal area. Sorry for the long boring story. I can't make short quips, that really explain what I am trying to share.

[Cirsium]

42. Thank you

The reactions from most posters on this thread are disappointing, but I guess not surprising. Racism runs deep in the US.

[Wonder Why]

41. She deserved the punishment. Perhaps this will be the best piece of education she gets - learning

right from wrong. And if, perhaps, others who committed acts they shouldn't have, had received punishment, she might have learned from their mistakes.

Sometimes, one's biggest accomplishment in life, is to serve as w warning to others of what not to do.

[Cirsium]

43. Charming

Just...charming.

[ProfessorGAC]

44. Can't Believe The Number Of Folks...

...on this thread who think this was a perfectly acceptable outcome.
She won the race & there's no dispute as to how she did it. She ran faster. End of story
Giving first place to someone who didn't win the race because of something after the fact is foolish.
She's a kid. Let her celebrate the achievement.
An appropriate response, IMO, would be a warning that further such displays would DQ her from subsequent races.

This is the second time today I've seen this sort of B&W thinking. Liberals are supposed to be capable of dealing with shades of gray.