Joasia Zakrzewski, a 47-year-old British ultramarathoner, was banned from racing or coaching in Britain for one year after it was revealed that she rode in a car for a portion of the 50-mile race.
Zakrzewski finished third place in the race and received a trophy for the finish.
“I made a massive error accepting the trophy and should have handed it back.”
It took a week for race officials to figure out that she rode in a car for 2 1/2 miles of the race.
Tracking data indicated that she finished a mile in 1 minute and 40 seconds.
When asked by officials, Zakrzewski admitted she was in a car, but her explanation for not sharing the information sooner was confusing.
She said she accepted the ride and planned to finish the race unofficially.
Race officials were not aware that she accepted a ride or intended to finish unofficially.
As for accepting the trophy, she blamed that on a “miscommunication” and jet lag.
A standard suspension for a case like this is two years, but “mitigating factors” reduced her suspension.
Zakrewski is a well-known ultramarathon runner who earlier in the year ran 255 miles in 48 hours.
The new third-place finisher, Mel Sykes, had an interesting take on the situation.
She said:
“Great news for me but really bad news for sportsmanship.”
Great news for me 🥉 but really bad news for sportsmanship 😕
The below happened because a fellow competitor cheated.
She travelled in a car for around 2.5 miles of the M2L 50 mile event last week.
After an investigation, she has now been DQ’d, and rightly so. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/H1qkIOvXml— Mel Sykes (@nuddypants) April 17, 2023
Unfortunately, her career accomplishments will be overshadowed by the poor decision-making and handling of this race.
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