Athletics: De Grasse, other sprinters decry US high schoolers being penalized for celebrating


FILE PHOTO: Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Athletics - Men's 200m - Medal Ceremony - Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan - August 5, 2021. Gold medallist, Andre De Grasse of Canada celebrates on the podium REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo

(Reuters) - Andre De Grasse has thrown his Olympic champion weight behind a call to stop the punishment of young track athletes in the United States for celebrating victories, with the Tokyo 200 metres winner saying kids should be allowed to have fun.

Brody Buffington, a senior at Catoctin High School in Maryland, had his school's 4x200-metres relay team disqualified after anchoring them to victory at last weekend's State Championships. In videos viewed more than a million times, Buffington raises one finger in celebration a few meters from the finish line.

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