Calif. girl's track star disqualified from state championships due to celebrating her win

Clara Adams

Clara Adams is a phenomenal high school track star. She won the girls 400 meter finals although a boy with gender dysphoria was slightly faster and ironically won the first place award.

 Adams, a straight-up high school track phenom who’s burning up the lanes like nobody’s business. She's a sophomore from North Salinas High School who blazed through the girls’ 400-meter finals at the California state championships, crossing the finish line first, or so she thought. But the story takes a wild turn, and not the good kind.

See, there’s this whole storm brewing at the California state track and field championships, mostly because a boy who claims to be a girl snagged first in the girls’ high jump and triple jump. That’s got everyone’s attention, but flying under the radar is a straight-up travesty in the varsity girls’ 400 finals that’ll make your blood boil.

Adams is an absolute speed demon, smoking the prelims for second place, then came out guns blazing in the finals. She crossed that line first, ready to bask in the glory. 

Picture this: she’s celebrating with her father, David, grabbing a fire extinguisher, and spraying her shoes like they ignited from her speed. The Monterey Herald caught the moment, with her dad saying it was all in good fun, nowhere near her opponents. “She wasn’t disrespecting anyone,” David told the outlet. Just a kid having a blast after leaving everyone in the dust.

But here’s where it gets downright infuriating. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) swoops in like some fun-hating overlords and calls her celebration “unsportsmanlike.” They strip Clara of her state championship, her hard-earned, sweat-drenched victory, and disqualify her from the whole meet. Poof, just like that, no 200-meter race for her either.

David Adams isn’t having it. He protested the CIF’s call, saying it felt “racially motivated.” Clara’s Black, and yeah, that detail’s not lost on anyone paying attention. The CIF  doubled down, upholding the decision like they’re guarding the gates of LGBTQ+YADDAYADDA911 bureaucracy.

Alan Green, one of the voices of reason here, summed it up to the Monterey Herald: “It’s a very unfortunate event. We are all heartbroken. Clara ran an incredible 400 race and is the fastest 400-meter girl in the state. She was trying to have some fun at the finish line after the 400. It was interpreted as unsportsmanlike. What an incredible season and run. It’s unfortunate.” 

Now that's an understatement of the year, Alan.

Clara was gutted. “I felt like I was robbed,” she said, still “in shock.” And who wouldn’t be? This girl’s been dominating, first in the 400 at the Central Coast Section Championships, first in three races at the Pacific Coast Athletic League Masters Meet just last month. She’s the real deal, and now she’s caught in this nonsense.

One day the country will look back at this insanity where boys and men compete against girls and women and wonder what the hell were they thinking.

Oh, and let’s not gloss over the irony here: a boy with gender dysphoria ran slightly faster in the 400 and snagged the first-place award. So while Clara’s getting DQ’d for a little flair, the bigger picture’s got everyone scratching their heads. California, what are we even doing here? 

Clara Adams deserved better as do all female athletes in all sports.

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