A prominent ultramarathon runner who used a car during a 50-mile race and then accepted a trophy for third place has been banned from competing for 12 months by a UK athletics disciplinary body.
Joasia Zakrzewski admitted using a car during the 2023 GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool race on April 7, but claimed she only did so after telling bailiffs she was injured and no longer competing.
Data from the event tracking system revealed that Zakrzewski had been carried for approximately 2.5 miles of the race.
The 47-year-old long-distance runner was stripped of her third-place title despite insisting she informed officials she had finished the race “non-competitively.”
UK Athletics’ Independent Disciplinary Panel disagreed with her description of the situation when it decided to ban her for a year.
Joasia Zakrzewski was banned for 12 months by a UK athletics body after using a car during a race. Facebook/Manchester to Liverpool Ultra Data from the event tracking system revealed that Zakrzewski had been carried for approximately 2.5 miles of the race. Facebook / Ceri Porter
“The plaintiff had collected the trophy at the end of the race, something she should not have done if she had completed the race non-competitively,” the panel said.
“She also did not seek to return the trophy in the week following the race.”
Joasia Zakrzewski was stripped of her third place finish. Courtesy of Joasia Zakrzewski
The runner attributed her error in judgment in accepting the trophy to the fact that she had flown in the night before from Australia and was “tired, jet lagged and feeling sick”, telling the BBC after the race: “I should have returned them and not having returned them.” They took the photographs, but I felt bad, distracted and not thinking clearly.”
The athletics panel officials did not appear to believe his reasoning, noting in their verdict: “Even if he suffered mental confusion on race day, he had a week after the race to realize his actions and return the trophy. , which she didn’t do.
Officials said Zakrzewski (left) also did not return the third-place trophy after the race. Facebook / Manchester to Liverpool Ultra
“Eventually, he posted about the race on social media, and this did not reveal that he had completed the race without competing.”
Zakrzewski, originally from Dumfries in Scotland, now lives near Sydney in Australia.
He previously set several running records, including the Scottish 24-hour record, the British 200km and the Scottish 100-mile record.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn