A race in 48 seconds 57, crushed personal record, a national title on 400 m hurdles and a ticket for the world championships of Eugene (United States) from July 15 to 24. Wilfried Happio became Saturday in Caen the fifth best French performer of all time. And all this, with a blindfold on the left eye, the result of an attack suffered twenty minutes before the race by the 23-year-old athlete on the small warm-up track at Lycée Malherbe, 500 m from the Hélitas stadium which hosts the French athletics championships.
“There was a big incident during the warm-up. Someone jumped on him and hit him,” said Olivier Vallaeys, Happio coach and manager of the 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay for the French Athletics Federation (FFA) .
“Savage Methods”
“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 twenty 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 after his victory, his head down, in tears, his nose bleeding. “I don’t want to dwell on it, the case is in progress. To talk about the race, with only one eye, it’s more complicated. The sensations were good, ”quickly commented on the semi-finalist of the last Tokyo Olympics.
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.