Runner blames 'camera angle' as film shows her hitting opponent with baton

In a recent interview with WAVY TV 10, Alaila Everett, the American scholar runner involved in a controversial track incident, defended herself, saying it was all a misunderstanding caused by a camera angle.

The incident occurred during the 4x200m relay at Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, in which Everett struck fellow competitor Kaelen Tucker on the head with a baton, resulting in a diagnosed concussion and a suspected skull fracture.

“I would never hit somebody because of jealousy. At the end of the day, I’m a child too. I’m sorry. I didn’t intentionally hit her. I didn’t know it would cause a concussion. I didn’t know all this was going to happen,” she said while crying. 

The incident, which took place last Tuesday during a state athletics meeting, left Tucker, a sprinter from Brookville High School, injured and in need of medical attention.

Video footage shared on social media appears to show Everett swinging the baton and striking Tucker as she attempted to overtake her, causing Tucker to stumble and collapse on the track.

The footage quickly went viral, sparking a wave of criticism against Everett.

“I am not the type to hit somebody on purpose. I’ve never been in a fight. I’ve always been on the honour roll, and I never get calls home,” said Everett, addressing the public backlash. “People are assuming my character from a nine-second video, calling me ghetto, sending racist slurs and even death threats. It’s just a lot on me.”

Everett explained the sequence of events, claiming the incident was an accident.

“I received a baton, when I was merging I was like OK, I'm doing good, I only see one person in front of me, then on the curve I seen something yellow in my peripheral and she was so close to me that my baton kept hitting her and it's either keep hitting her or fall into the metal railing that's on the bank track. So eventually after a couple times hitting her, my baton got stuck behind her back and it rolled up her. I lost my balance and when I pumped my arms again, she got hit,” said Everett.

She said Tucker was cutting in too close, making it difficult to avoid the collision.

“She should have waited a little bit longer. She was so close to me that she got hit when I was running.”

After the race, Everett said her coach instructed her to stay close, and she later found out the team was disqualified due to “contact interference". Despite the disqualification and public outcry, Everett maintains her innocence.

“I know what happened, and nobody’s going to make me think that I did something I didn’t do. I would never hit someone on purpose because of jealousy.”

On the other side of the incident, Tucker shared her shock and pain after the blow. “I was slowly starting to pass her when she hit me with the baton, and I fell off the track,” Tucker told WSLS TV.

Tucker’s mother, Tamarro Tucker, expressed her dismay, saying no-one from the opposing team checked on her daughter’s wellbeing after the incident. “No apologies. No coaches. No athlete. No anything. Even if it was an accident, which I don’t believe it was ... nothing,” she said.

Everett, however, insists that she intended no harm and has been deeply affected by the negative attention. “They’re going off of one angle. I know it looks purposeful, but I know my intentions, and I would never hit somebody on purpose,” she said.

Everett has expressed a willingness to apologise, saying she would never intentionally harm another competitor, but she feels that the public has already judged her based on incomplete information.

“I would apologise to her. I would never hit her on purpose. Congratulate her for the place [she came in] I'm sorry you couldn't compete more than [the] 300m dash, but still, everybody has feelings. You're physically hurt, but you're not thinking of my mental, right? Thousands, hundreds of thousands of people attacking me and all her family is thinking of is 'Oh, my daughter's hurt, so I don't care about her feelings'.

“At the end of the day, I'm still a minor, too.”

The incident has sparked intense debate on social media, with many calling for accountability, while others expressed sympathy for Everett.

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