Runner banned for one year after hitchhiking during marathon

The athlete covered approximately 4 km of the route by car and admitted the infringement

The runner ultramarathon Joasia Zakrzewski has been banned from competing for 12 months. The ban was imposed due to his use of a car during a 50-mile (about 80 km) race on April 7, in which he came third. Data from the GB Ultras Manchester-Liverpool race tracking system in the UK revealed that he hitchhiked during a roughly 4km stretch of the route.

According to the BBC, the 47-year-old Scot, who lost her place on the podium in the race, initially said she had informed race officials that she had been using the car and completing the race “in a non-competitive manner”. However, the UK Athletics Independent Disciplinary Committee disagreed in their verdict.

In the report released by the evaluators, Zakrzewski acknowledged the misconduct: “I accept my actions on the day I traveled in the car and subsequently completed the race, crossing the finish line and inappropriately receiving a medal and trophy, which I did not returned immediately, as it should have been done.”

With an impressive CV, the athlete represented Scotland in the marathon at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Additionally, he holds the Scottish 24-hour record, the British 200km record and the Scottish 100-mile (160km) record.

After the disqualification, Mel Sykes took third place. “The sadness in all of this is that the organizers of the race, the other competitors and honest sport are being made a mockery of. How can someone who knows they cheated cross the finish line, receive a medal/trophy and take photos?” on your social networks.

The sad thing about all of this is that it completely takes the piss out of the race organizers, the other competitors and the sport itself.

How can someone who knows they cheated cross the finish line, collect a medal/trophy and have their photo taken?! pic.twitter.com/8QCuL4SABV

—Mel Sykes (@nuddypants) April 17, 2023

Source: Terra

Rose

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