I had read that it was just before the start of the race. It seems weird that he’d push him off during the race and then he’d come up from behind to clock him like that?
Not really weird. The black athlete was impeding the race leader, which should cause him and his whole school to be disqualified. First, the victim yelled for him to get off the track. Second, when the perp blocked him worse, he pushed through. Third, the perp clocked the victim, who was comfortably in the lead.
The perp was dissed. Two school boards, the state org sanctioning the event, and the law enforcement agency need to be bled for tens of millions, IMO. The perp should be barred from any athletic pursuit at any level, and likely deserves prison. JMHO.