The organizers of the Mexico Metropolis Marathon mentioned they had been investigating runners of the race final month for “unsportsmanlike” attitudes, after studies of individuals dishonest emerged on-line.
The Sports activities Institute of Mexico Metropolis, which organized the marathon, mentioned in an announcement final week that it will “proceed to establish these instances by which the individuals” of the fortieth Mexico Metropolis Marathon “would have demonstrated an unsportsmanlike angle in the course of the occasion and can invalidate their recorded instances.”
The institute didn’t instantly reply to questions on how many individuals had been disqualified from the race or why that they had been disqualified.
There may be precedent for numerous disqualifications on the marathon. Organizers mentioned in 2018 that 3,090 runners had been disqualified, largely for course slicing, or crossing the end line with out operating the whole distance. In 2017, they disqualified 5,806 folks, most of whom had engaged in course slicing.
Accusations of dishonest in Mexican races are additionally documented in Fb pages together with Los CazaTramposos Del Maratón, or “The marathon cheater hunters,” and Ya se cansaron?, “Are you drained but?,” which in latest weeks have posted a number of claims of dishonest by runners within the Mexico Metropolis Marathon.
Marca, a sports activities newspaper primarily based in Spain, reported that 1000’s of individuals had been disqualified from the race after utilizing public transportation and vehicles to shorten the gap. That estimate was not confirmed by the race organizers.
The Mexico Metropolis Marathon is one in all 38 races this 12 months to have a World Athletics Gold Label, a classification that signifies it has met strict necessities after all design and race administration. The winner of the marathon receives 550,000 pesos, or greater than $31,000. This 12 months’s marathon was on Aug. 27.
The assertion from the Sports activities Institute of Mexico Metropolis mentioned, partially, that the marathon “not solely represents an necessary celebration for all of the folks of the capital, however it’s also a possibility to reaffirm the transcendental values of the game,” which incorporates bolstering “the essence of sports activities competitors and its optimistic influence in our society.”
“We thank all of the individuals, spectators and collaborators for being a part of this occasion that uplifts not solely disciplined bodily exercise, but in addition the values that form an exemplary sporting group,” the assertion mentioned.
Questions on dishonest at this 12 months’s marathon once more have introduced consideration to top-of-the-line recognized marathon scandals in Mexico.
Roberto Madrazo, a former presidential candidate, was disqualified from the Berlin Marathon in 2007 for dishonest. He had used his marathon-running as a metaphor for dedication and steadiness in marketing campaign commercials. A sports activities photographer raised questions on Madrazo’s run after he was seen on the end line carrying a jacket, a cap and lengthy tights whereas most runners had been carrying sweat-soaked T-shirts and shorts.
Madrazo mentioned final week in a put up on X, the social media platform previously often called Twitter, that he had stopped operating the 2007 marathon early due to an damage and went to the finisher’s line to gather his participant’s medal as a result of it was given to all runners.
He additionally responded to this 12 months’s Mexico Metropolis marathon debacle, saying that the 33 p.c of people that solely partially accomplished the race weren’t dishonest.