Thousands of runners who participated in the Mexico City Marathon were reportedly disqualified after it was determined they cut the 26.2-mile course at some point during the event.
The approximately 11,000 runners who were disqualified were alleged to have used cars, public transportation and bikes to skip sections on the course, according to Spain’s Marca. Data from the race reportedly indicated that the runners did not meet some of the 5-kilometer checkpoints.
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Organizers released a statement to Marca on the issue.
“The Mexico City Sports Institute informs that it will proceed to identify those cases in which participants of the XL Mexico City Marathon Telcel 2023 have demonstrated an unsportsmanlike attitude during the event and will invalidate their registration times,” the statement read.
“This great event not only represents an outstanding celebration for all the inhabitants of the capital, but also an occasion to reaffirm the transcendental values of sport.”
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Some runners involved in the mess claimed that their trackers were faulty and did not record them passing through the checkpoints, according to Runners World.
The Mexico City Marathon has experienced issues with cheating in the past, according to ESPN.
Nearly 6,000 runners were disqualified in 2017 and 3,000 in 2018 under similar circumstances.
None of the elite runners in the event are believed to have been among those disqualified. Bolivia’s Hector Garibay won the men’s event in 2:08:23 and Kenya’s Celestine Chepchirchir won the women’s race in 2:27:17.
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