Wilfried Happio won the 400m hurdles at the French Championships and secured his place at the World Championships. And he did it with his left eye closed
Wilfrid Happio is a name that doesn’t say much to someone who doesn’t follow international athletics deeply. On Saturday, the Frenchman returned to what he does best by winning the 400m hurdles. It was at the French National Championships where he added a new personal best (48.57) to qualify for the World Championships in Eugene (USA).
Of course, none of this would be news outside of France if it weren’t for the pre-competition highlights that were only known yesterday: the 23-year-old, U20 and U23 European Champion. , was attacked during the pre-race warm-up (in the restricted area) and, as if that weren’t enough, he ran blindfolded over his left eye as a result of the attack.
According to his coach, the author was a guy who came “out of nowhere” 20 minutes before the final and punched him in the eye. by the police, allegedly the brother of Happio’s friend.
After the race, Wilfried Happio went to the hospital and filed a complaint yesterday, as did the French Athletics Federation (FFA), whose president also mentioned the case yesterday, helping to add to the confusion in the case by denying any responsibility. “Safety was guaranteed, as in all competitions. An unfortunate event has occurred and we will know how to accept the appropriate consequences, but this is not the fault of the federation,” began André Giraud, comparing: “We live in a particular society, I would say that every day, every weekend, the worst manifestations occur on the football fields aggression than this.
