French hurdler Wilfried Happio won his national title race Saturday, despite being forced to wear an eye patch after being physically attacked only minutes before the meet.
According to News Nine, Happio was warming up ahead of Saturday’s national championships in Caen, Northern France, when someone just ran up and attacked him.
🔥 Minima pour les Mondiaux de Eugene !
Wilfried Happio (Lille Métropole Athlé) champion de France Elite du 400 m haies en 48''57 !
💪 Cinquième meilleur performeur 🇷 de l'histoire !
💻 Suivez les #CFAthlé en DIRECT sur https://t.co/63xdTVtG50 et @lachainelequipe. pic.twitter.com/s4QTyk50iT
— FFAthlétisme (@FFAthletisme) June 25, 2022
“There was a big incident in the warm-up. Someone jumped on him and hit him,” the runner’s coach, Olivier Valleys, told the media.
“Some guy came out of nowhere and asked him if he was Wilfried Happio and then jumped on him. I managed to hold him back,” the coach explained.
The coach added that the attack came minutes before the race.
“It was 20 minutes before the race, we were ready to go to the call area,” he said.
The coach concluded that the attack was “pure aggression” and “scandalous” but the attacker was arrested, and the runner was not hurt too badly.
Still, as a result of the attack, Happio had to run his race with a patch over his eye. But the injury didn’t seem to hold him back. Indeed, he performed his personal best time of 48.75 seconds, won the national title, and will head to Oregon for next month’s World Championships.
“I don’t want to say any more about the (assault),” he said. “The race was more complicated than normal because I only had one eye.”
Police officials are reportedly investigating the incident after the attacker’s arrest.
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