U.S. high school sprinter disqualified for celebrating win

Photo: Photosport

A high school athlete in the US has had his school’s 200m relay team disqualified from the Maryland state champs after he celebrated winning as he crossed the finish line.

Brody Buffington, from Catoctin High School in Maryland, acnhored his team to victory but raised one finger in celebration a few metre from the finish line.

Buffington is a 10-time indoor and outdoor state champion.

“Obviously we are disappointed that Brody was disqualified,” Catoctin athletic director Keith Bruck said.

“Personally, I believe that if a student athlete is not taunting another competitor or celebrating in excess, they should be allowed to show emotion. In no other sport would a student athlete be disqualified for what Brody did.”

There have been over 3 million views of the race video on line.

Buffington was also previously stripped of a victory in the 300 metres at the U.S. indoor regional championships in February after raising his fists in celebration before the finish line and then letting out a whoop of joy.

His celebration apparently broke a National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSH) rule for “an action which brings discredit to an individual or their school.”

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Canada’s Andre De Grasse who won the men’s 200m gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics has called on authorities to stop punishing young track athletes for celebrating victories.

“Let them have fun,” De Grasse, a six-time Olympic medallist, told Reuters.

“It’s good for the sport and brings more attention to track. It also promotes both camaraderie and competition.”

“That’s so stupid. Why do we keep hindering ourselves as a sport?” tweeted three-time world champion Noah Lyles of the U.S., one of the most entertaining and demonstrative athletes in the sport.

“That’s pretty lame honestly,” retired U.S. world champion Wallace Spearmon posted on Twitter.

Usain Bolt celebrates winning Olympic gold in Beijing.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

This rule if applied globally at the professional level would wipe out the results of some of the sport’s biggest stars, including Usain Bolt, whose chest-beating dance as he crossed the line to win his first 100 metres Olympic gold in 2008 became one of the iconic images of athletics.

De Grasse and Bolt engaged in playful competition at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where Bolt’s sideways grin at the cameras launched virtually a thousand memes.

U.S. women’s sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, in winning the 200 at Nairobi’s Kip Keino Classic two weeks ago raised her arms like an aeroplane 30 metres before the finish line.

Bolt in a recent interview said his crowd-engaging personality was a huge reason for the success of track events during his era.

-Reuters