French athlete Wilfried Happio has remarkably become the national 400m hurdles champion, despite being assaulted just 20 minutes before the race.
Happio was violently attacked during his pre-race warm-up after an individual somehow bypassed security and assaulted the 23-year-old. The attacker managed to land several punches to his face before his coach Olivier Vallaeys stepped in.
Police eventually arrested the assailant, with RMC Sport reporting the attack left Happio 'coughing up blood'. Despite the incident, Happio declared himself fit to race and he managed to emerge victorious, competing with an eyepatch and a makeshift bandage on his face during the event.
He also recorded an impressive time of 48.57 seconds, a new personal best. When Happio spoke to reporters after the race he was still bleeding from his nose.
"I don't want to dwell on it," he said of the attack. "We'll leave that to the competent people.
"To talk about the race, we worked a lot, we redid the music and that's it. The feelings were good. I'm glad I did this time. Physically it's fine."
Vallaeys, meanwhile, labelled the attack "outrageous", saying: "There was a big incident during the warm-up. Someone jumped on him and hit him.
"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're in shock. The guy was arrested. Wilfried is fine. But I'm speechless, it's a mess. Sheer aggression. It's outrageous. These are savage methods."
