Earlier this month, Clara Adams was disqualified from a race after she did the unthinkable: celebrate her win on a field away from her fellow competitors. How dare a young Black girl take pride in her accomplishments? Doesn’t she realize this is America? Sarcasm aside, Adams has since received an outpouring of support as her family considers taking legal action against the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF).
According to ABC News, Adante Pointer, the attorney for Clara Adams, has said the family will “certainly” take legal action against the CIF if they don’t reinstate her win. “That was the championship, she would have been the fastest sprinter in the state of California – she is, she won, but she doesn’t have the title nor the medal,” Pointer told reporters during a press conference. “She’ll never have that moment.”
Clara Adams is a 16-year-old track star from North Salinas High School in California. On June 7, she competed and won a 400-meter sprint with a time of 53.24 seconds. After winning the race, she exited the track and went over to her father, who handed her a fire extinguisher. She then moved onto a field, away from both the track and her fellow competitors, and used the extinguisher to recreate Olympic champion Maurice Greene’s celebration from the 2004 Home Depot Track and Field Invitational.
She was then told by CIF officials that she was disqualified because the celebration was “unsportsmanlike.” They not only revoked her win but also prevented her from competing in the 200-meter sprint as well. Under the CIF’s rules, student athletes can’t engage in “taunting, boastful celebrations, or other actions that demean individuals or the sport.”
Clara Adams and her father David Adams don’t believe they violated the rules since the celebration wasn’t targeted towards her fellow competitors. Additionally, I don’t think you can say the celebration “demeaned the sport” as it paid homage to an iconic celebration.
“When she blew the fire extinguisher, the opponents were gone,” David Adams 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.”
Clara Adams has received an outpouring of support after her story gained national traction. The story even reached Greene himself, who told KSBW he believes Adams should have her win reinstated. “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.”
Monterey County has rallied behind Clara Adams as well, with the Board of Supervisors authorizing a letter sent to the CIF advocating that Adams has her win reinstated. “On behalf of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, we respectfully urge the California Interscholastic Federation to immediately reinstate North Salinas High School sophomore and track and field standout Clara Adams as the rightful State Champion in the 400-meter final,” the letter reads.
No matter how this turns out, the fact of the matter is that the CIF took this moment from Clara. They can reinstate the win, sure, but they forever soured what should’ve been a moment of celebration for this young girl.
“I had to watch the girls get on the podium without me,” Adams said during the press conference. “I had to watch somebody else get on the number one spot that I was supposed to stand on. And that wasn’t cool at all. That was wrong.”
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