Frenchman Wilfried Happio had to compete with a blindfold that didn’t stop him from celebrating. Photo: Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP.
With his left eye covered and a bulky dressing on his eyelid, athlete Wilfried Happio was proclaimed champion of France in the 400 hurdles this Saturday just twenty minutes after being assaulted by a stranger on the Helitas de Caen stadium warm-up track.
“When there were twenty minutes before the race and we were ready to go to the call room a guy came out of nowhere and asked if it was Wilfried Happiothen he threw himself at him and hit him in the face “, explained Olivier Vallaeys, Happio’s coach, in statements to the media.
“I am speechless. It is outrageous,” added the coach, who reported that the attacker had already been arrested.
The attack did not stop Happio from taking to the track to overcome the 400 obstacles. Photo: Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)
A circumstance that did not prevent Wilfried Happio, 23, from being crowned new French champion of the 400 meters hurdles with a time of 48.57 seconds, his best personal best and 10th best world record of the year.
A time that also certified the presence of Happio, European U-23 champion in 2019, at the World Championships to be held next July in Eugene (United States).
Source: EFE
Source: Clarin
