Track meet officials strip gold medal from student athlete because of her victory celebration

SALINAS, Calif. (Gray News) – A teen track star in California returned home empty-handed after the state championship’s organizers stripped her of her gold medal.

According to KSBW, officials were unhappy with 16-year-old Clara Adams’ victory celebration and declared it “unsportsmanlike.”

Clara, a sophomore at North Salinas High School, took first place in the 400-meter sprint.

After the victory, she celebrated by spraying a small fire extinguisher on her shoes.

It was an homage to the victory celebration made famous by Olympic sprinter Maurice Greene.

Greene told KSBW that he was honored by Clara’s celebration and believes her medal should be given back to her.

“If it were away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her,” Greene said.

Clara’s father says his daughter’s celebration was done after her opponents had already left and did not harm anyone. He is accusing officials of making the day about themselves.

Clara said even if she does get her medal back, she will always be stripped of her celebratory moment.

“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 ‘cause they took it from me,” she said.

Research into 20 years of state championships by KSBW revealed no other instances of disqualification for unsportsmanlike conduct.

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