FRENCH athlete Wilfried Happio was shockingly attacked just 20 minutes before he became the national champion in the 400m hurdles.
The 23-year-old was left a bloodied and battered mess after he was violently assaulted during his warm-up in Caen on Saturday.
An individual somehow managed to evade security where he proceeded to land several blows to the face of Happio.
Happio's coach Olivier Vallaeys stepped in to block the attack, before the person was sharply arrested by the police.
Le Parisien have stated that the French Athletics Federation and the city of Caen will file a complaint on Sunday against the perpetrator.
According to RMC Sport, Happio was coughing up blood just moments before the start of the race.
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Despite the sickening assault, Happio declared himself fit enough to compete.
Wearing an eye patch along with a bandage draped around his face, the Parisian incredibly became the French champion as he won with a time of 48.57 seconds.
It was a new personal best for Happio, who also sealed his place at next month's World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
He will be hoping to improve on his 33rd placed finish from the 2019 World Championships where he crashed out in the heats.
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Speaking after the race and before he went to the hospital for further examinations, Happio said: "I don't want to dwell on it.
"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."
His coach Vallaeys remarked: "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."
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