California teen stripped of track title after imitating iconic celebration

A high school track star was stripped of her title after celebrating her win in an iconic way, which also drew the ire of California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) officials.

Clara Adams, a 16-year-old North Salinas High School sophomore, had just finished first in the girls’ 400-meter race in Clovis on Saturday when video showed her walking over to the stands with a smile on her face and retrieving a fire extinguisher from her father, David.

“Then, in a celebratory moment, she took a fire extinguisher from her dad, stepped away from the track, and blasted her shoes with the retardant spray,” the Mercury News reported.

David detailed the exchange he had with his daughter. “I told Clara, ‘You’re on fire,’” he told the newspaper. “She did not do it in front of her opponents. She wasn’t disrespecting anyone.”

CIF officials saw Adams’ display as an act of unsportsmanlike behavior and disqualified her from the meet. The decision meant Adams would not have her moment on the podium and could not run in the upcoming 200-meter race in which she was one of the favorites.

Her celebration was reminiscent of an iconic moment by 2004 track champion Maurice Greene in which he took his shoes off and had them sprayed by someone holding a fire extinguisher.

“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 told the television station KSBW. “If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.”

CIF officials have not publicly commented on the decision.