Capping off a high-school running career with a triple win is impressive–but getting disqualified from all three is almost a talent of its own.
At his track and field regionals on Tuesday in Decatur, Ga., high-school star Tommy Latham of Marist School in Brookhaven, Ga., allegedly flipped off a competitor he was lapping during the anchor leg of the boy’s 4x800m relay. The move resulted in an immediate disqualification, revoking the team’s win due to “unsportsmanlike conduct.”
The same day, Latham also competed in the boy’s 1,600m, where he clocked 4:21.50 to take first by nearly eight seconds. His win was also nullified due to unsportsmanlike conduct. On Wednesday, Latham took a third victory in the boy’s 800m, crossing three seconds ahead of second in 1:51.47; his performance was declared a “DQ,” with no official reason disclosed. In the 3,200m, the athlete was again disqualified, this time before the race even began, for, once again, “unsportsmanlike conduct.”
Latham has established a reputation as one of the nation’s most elite high-school athletes. Last January, he was named the 2023-24 Gatorade Player of the Year–an honour given to the most outstanding up-and-coming high schoolers in the U.S.
Last May, he announced his commitment to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is set to begin his freshman year this fall. In March, he became the first Georgia high-school athlete to break the four-minute barrier in the mile, running 3:59:79, following his win at February’s Millrose Games high-school mile in 4:00.94.
Full results from the Georgia High School Association regionals can be found here.
