Attacked twenty minutes before his race, the 400m hurdles runner Wilfried Happio was crowned French champion on Saturday in Caen with a blindfold, in a surreal atmosphere.
On this quiet followingnoon in the rural Hélitas stadium in Caen, in completely normal weather (sunset, clouds, showers, cool temperatures), the hitherto lackluster performances of the French Championships had drowsed the public, before a crazy end of the day.
Black jersey and crooked black headband hiding a bandage over the left eye, the 400m hurdles specialist Wilfried Happio flew over his race and immediately revealed his improbable preparation for the final.
Twenty minutes earlier, the 23-year-old athlete had been attacked on the small warm-up track at Lycée Malherbe, 500 m from the Hélitas stadium.
“Shocked“
“There was a big incident during the warm-up. Someone jumped on him and kicked him“, explained to AFP and the daily L’Équipe Olivier Vallaeyscoach of Happio and responsible for the 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay for the French Athletics Federation (FFA).
“A guy who came from nowhere asked him if it was really him Wilfried Happio and threw himself on him. I belted it. It was 20 minutes before the race, we were ready to go to the call room. We are in shock. The guy was arrested. Wilfried is fine. But I’m speechless, this is pure aggression. It’s scandalous. These are wild methods.“
Happio immediately showed up in the mixed zone following his victory, his head bowed, in tears, his nose bleeding.
“I don’t want to dwell on it, the case is in progress. To talk regarding the race, with one eye, it’s more complicated. The feelings were good“, quickly commented on the semi-finalist of the last Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The FFA confirmed “the attack by an individual arrested by the municipal police of Caen, which came very quickly because the city service was on site.“
“The individual, who had access to the premises, has been identified. The municipal police investigation is ongoing. The FFA and the city of Caen will file a complaint tomorrow morning“, a spokesperson for the organization told the media.
A source close to the investigation also confirmed to AFP that there had been an arrest.
Zhoya ignites
Despite the context, Happio won in 48 sec 57, a personal best pulverized, enough to validate his place for the World Championships in Eugene in three weeks (July 15-24) and become the 5th best French performer of all time.
“I’m happy to have done these minima, it completes the season. Physically it’s fine“, he added before being taken to the hospital.
A few minutes following the shock of the 400m hurdles, the hope of French athletics Sasha Zhoya set the stadium on fire by becoming French champion in the 110m hurdles on his 20th birthday with an exceptional time of 13 sec 17.
World champion and junior world record holder on lower hurdles last year, he was only running his 5th senior 110m hurdles. He had done 13 sec 24 a little earlier in the playoffs.
Zhoya became Saturday the 6th best performer in the world of the season, the best European, and validated his ticket for the Worlds in Eugene.
Benjamin Robert won the 800m in 1 min 48 sec 58 ahead of the Olympic finalist Gabriel Tual and the 2017 world champion, Pierre-Ambroise Bosse.
