Clara Adams celebrated with her father after winning the 400 meters at Buchanan High in Clovis on Saturday.
North Salina High School sprinter Clara Adams was disqualified from the CIF State Championships after winning the 400-meter final due to her post-race celebration involving a fire extinguisher on May 31, 2025.
16-year-old Clara expressed her disappointment over the decision by stating,
“I worked so hard for that title,”
Clara Adams
After winning the event with 53.24 seconds, Clara celebrated by grabbing a fire extinguisher.
While the crowd and CIF booth initially reacted positively, the CIF official deemed the act unsportsmanlike and disqualified her.
Maurice Greene, the American sprint icon who made the celebration famous, was pleased with Adams paying homage to him and suggested she should be reinstated. Greene said,
“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?” “If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.”
Maurice Greene
Now, despite being the fastest 400-meter runner in the state, Adams returned home without a medal.
Even if reinstated, she missed the moment of being crowned a champion.
Track Athlete Clara Adams’ Parents Have Been Her Constant Supporters
Born in 2009, in California, Clara Adams, 17, was raised by her father, David Adams, and her mother, whose identity has not been revealed.
According to David’s official LinkedIn profile, he graduated from North Salins High School. From July 2014 to September 2016, he served as a security lead at Rio Nio Club.
He was an armed security guard at Monument Security, Inc. for two years.
David was a healthcare security officer at Interpool Private Security from October 2023 to October 2024.
Since August 2019, David has been serving as the security supervisor at the Minority Business Consortium in San Jose, California, United States.
David has always supported Clara in achieving her dream of becoming a track athlete.
Recently, when Clara was disqualified from the CIF State Championships after celebrating with a fire extinguisher, David supported Clara by saying that when she blew the extinguisher, the opponents were gone.
David Adams later said he believed the punishment was “racially motivated.” The family even tried to protest the decision, but it was to no avail.
As per the reports, David handed Clara a fire extinguisher from the stands.
On the other hand, Clara’s mother has stayed out of the media spotlight, so little is known about her personal life.
Earlier on March 20, 2019, Clara took to her official Instagram handle and posted a picture of her mother and father. She captioned,
On my special day I got baptized. Me , my mom and my daddy. I was so happy <3
Carla Adams
In May 2023, Clara’s mother attended her graduation ceremony. David took to his Facebook handle and shared a glimpse with the caption,
Class of 2023 Clara’s 8th grade promotion , She did that!!! 2022-2023 4.0 All Year Award | 4th Qtr Honor Roll , and Athlete of The Year!!! @yungcheetah831
David Adams
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Clara Adams was the only county athlete among the six who qualified for the state meet to advance to Saturday’s finals.
- Adams, who broke the CCS finals record in the 400 last week and is the county record holder, is now No. 2 all-time in the county in the 200, behind Monterey’s Sani Reseby’s mark of 23.52, set in 1999.
- She had hoped to match Calvin Harrison’s achievement 32 years ago of winning the 200 and 400, even wearing the throwback North Salinas uniforms from that era.
