High school runner brutally sucker-punches rival during race (VIDEO)
A sucker-punch clip from a Florida high school track meet has gone viral online after two runners clashed during a race and one of the pair decided to violently escalate matters.
The incident occurred in Kissimmee around half an hour south of Orlando at the Tohopekaliga Tiger Invitational on Saturday.
As the short video which has been viewed almost 2 million times on Twitter shows, a racer in a black uniform comes up behind a rival in a white uniform and sucker-punches him from behind, which causes his victim to immediately drop to the floor.
According to TMZ and Canadian Running, witnesses claim that the duo had previous.
Before the blow, the athlete in black was allegedly standing on the track in the 1,600m event which the white-donning runner was circling while leading the race.
The athlete in white allegedly first yelled at the athlete in black, who was not participating in the race, to get out of the way. And when he refused and purposely stood in his way on the next go around, the athlete in white pushed the athlete in black.
This then evidently infuriated the athlete in black to the point that he decided to escalate the violence. Giving chase, he appeared as though he had joined the race but instead came up from behind to sucker-punch the subject of his anger.
High school track race fight club pic.twitter.com/0nbDRz5Iur
— Baseball Fight Club (@mlb_fights) March 29, 2022
The widely-seen clip has been named 'High school track race fight club' due to the violent nature of the incident and it is thus far unclear as to whether the victim suffered injuries or was able to finish the race.
As a female voice is heard advising "keep going" an angry male can be heard over the top of everyone repeatedly shouting: "Are you f**king kidding me?" as someone else describes the goings-on as "bulls**t".
To TMZ, the host school claimed that no Osceola County students were involved in the fracas which law enforcement and the Florida High School Athletic Association have been informed about.
Local police have so far declined to give any further information too. But the incident is just the latest in American youth sports where sucker punches are rife.
In November last year, the daughter of former NBA star Corey Benjamin was caught on camera sucker-punching a much lighter 15-year-old member of the opposition, who suffered a bruised neck and concussion, during a basketball game in Garden Grove, California.
This "shocked and disappointed" the ex-Chicago Bulls guard, and the girl's mother Latira Shonty Hunt was later charged for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and battery after allegedly appearing to provoke the assault by yelling "you better hit her for that" – as heard on a separate viral clip – for which she may face a year behind bars.
Also in November 2021, a high school player in Iowa was arrested for a brutal sucker-punch during ceremonial handshakes in the aftermath of his Carlisle High School Wildcats' humbling 72-47 defeat to the Nevada High School Cubs.
The attacker first went for his victim's stomach, and then added a knockout blow before being wrestled to the ground by others.
