Clara Adams had just run the race of her life.
Under the lights at Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif., the 16-year-old sophomore from North Salinas High surged down the homestretch of the CIF State 400m final.
She crossed the finish line first, clocking 53.24, just one-hundredth of a second off her state-leading season’s best and well clear of the competition. It was, by every objective measure, a state championship performance.
Minutes later, she was disqualified.
In what should have been a crowning moment, Adams instead stood in tears after CIF officials ruled her post-race celebration unsportsmanlike.
Just after the win, she had stepped off the track and into the infield, where her father, also her coach, handed her a small fire extinguisher. Smiling, Adams aimed the canister at her racing spikes and gave a short blast, mimicking an iconic celebration performed by Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene in 2004.
But where Greene’s moment became a piece of track and field lore, Adams’ was swiftly condemned. She was stripped of her title, barred from the podium, and disqualified from competing in her next race, the 200m, where she was a strong contender.
“I’m disappointed and I feel robbed,” Adams said after her disqualification, according to the Mercury News. “They yelled at me and told me, ‘We’re not letting you on the podium.’ They took my moment away from me.”
To many watching that night, the punishment felt wildly disproportionate. The crowd had cheered the moment. The extinguisher blast took place off the track, far from other competitors, after the race had concluded. No one was taunted, no rules of interference were broken, and there was no apparent disrespect.
“She did not do it in front of her opponents,” her father, David Adams, told local radio station KSBW. “That was our moment. The crowd loved it. Even people in the CIF booth were cheering. But a few guys in jackets didn’t like it and made it about themselves.”
The CIF’s rulebook states that athletes must “be a good sport” and show “sincere respect” in all pre- and post-competition moments. But the ruling has raised questions about the application of that code and whether CIF officials applied it fairly in this case.
Adams, who is Black, told local media she believes the decision was racially motivated. Her family protested the disqualification, but the appeal was denied.
The man whose celebration she copied, Maurice Greene, was among the first to come to her defense. “If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone,” Greene said, according to the New York Post. “I would say reinstate her.”
Adams had earned the top seed in the final after a 53.23-second performance at the Central Coast Section Championships, where she broke a decades-old section record. She also advanced in the 200 meters with a lifetime best of 23.71, ranking second heading into the state final. Her consistency across the season had been electric—school records in the 100, 200, 400, and 800, and titles across the Pacific Coast Athletic League.
Now, instead of going down in history as the first North Salinas state champion since Olympic medalist Calvin Harrison in 1992, Adams goes down as a controversial DQ. In her absence, the 400m title was awarded to Madison Mosby of St. Mary’s Academy, who finished second in 53.52.
“This was a defining moment of her season, and they erased it,” said North Salinas head coach Alan Green. “She ran an incredible race. She’s the fastest girl in the state.”
Video of the moment shows Adams stepping off the track before spraying her spikes—a move her father said was specifically planned to avoid breaking any conduct rules. “I have video of it,” he said. “She was on the other side of the wall.”
Track and field has long celebrated exuberance in victory. From Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s emotional prayers to Usain Bolt’s signature lightning pose, it’s a sport that has made room for expression when it’s deemed palatable. The Adams family argue that the CIF’s decision suggests a double standard.
In a recent MH podcast about GST the hosts talked about how the sport needs to develop characters and personalities if non-runners are to care about it. I agree. The officials seem to think that running should be like chess or golf, with nothing more than a smile and a handshake to acknowledge the result. But chess and golf are games of strategy and precision, where the thing most tested is the mind. It is appropriate that the victor has utter control over their emotions. Sports of intense physicality are different, and the more explosively the body is trained to react, the more natural it is to respond with exuberance. As a viewer, we can only really appreciate the depth of the athletes personal achievement or loss by their reaction; if they don’t seem to care, why should we, or anyone else? The only reason we do care is because we can recognize and admire the effort that it takes to get there, and the courage to step up and risk it all in front of your community. This does have limits, I am not suggesting the contestants hire a troop to wail in mourning if they loose or strike up the band if they win, but in an era where young people have grown up in meme culture is a fun-spirited celebration like this anything other than fitting and normal?
I think the officials need to head over to the lawn bowling green where their attitudes of propriety will fit in a little better and give this remarkable girl her hard earned victory.