Rosie Ruiz Scandal

Rosie Ruiz Vivas (born 1953, Havana,Cuba) is an infamous Cuban American Marathon runner who on April 21, 1980 ostensibly came in as the first place female competitor in the 84th Boston Marathon, but who was later stripped of her title when it was found that she had cheated.

Rosie Ruiz Scandal : Rosie Ruiz crying in front of media after the exposure of her scandal.

Ruiz completed the marathon with a record time of 2:31:56. However, race officials determined that she had not completed the entire 26.2-mile course, but had registered for the race and later jumped in from the crowd and sprinted to the finish

There was suspicion from the beginning, as no one had seen her running earlier in the race, she did not appear in videotape footage, and some members of the crowd reported witnessing her run into the race in the last mile. In addition, her time of 2:31:56 was an unusual improvement, more than 25 minutes ahead of her reported time in the New York City Marathon six months earlier.

Jacqueline Gareau was awarded a winner's medal at a press conference over a week after the marathon. Her medal was bigger than the one that Ruiz had originally received, equal in size to the larger men's medal. (Since the 1980 race, women and men have been awarded medals equal in size.)


Courtesy : wikipedia