Rosie Ruiz Wins the Boston Marathon

[sniffa]

On April 21, 1980 Rosie Ruiz, a 23-year-old New Yorker, was the first woman to cross the finish line in the Boston Marathon. She had achieved the third fastest time ever recorded for a female runner (two hours, thirty-one minutes, and fifty-six seconds), which was made all the more remarkable by the fact that she looked remarkably sweat-free and relaxed as she climbed the winner's podium to accept her wreath. However, race officials almost immediately began to question her victory.

The problem was that no one could remember having seen her during the race. Monitors at the various race checkpoints hadn't seen her, nor had any of the other runners. Numerous photographs taken during the race failed to contain any sign of her. Her absence was overwhelming. Finally, a few members of the crowd came forward to reveal that they had seen her jump into the race during its final half-mile. Apparently she had then simply sprinted to the finish line.

As race officials prepared to announce her disqualification from the race, they discovered evidence that she had also cheated during the earlier New York marathon, where she had earned the time that had qualified her to run in the Boston marathon. She had apparently achieved her time in New York by riding the subway. Officials stripped her of her Boston victory and awarded the title to the real winner, Jackie Gareau.

Ruiz has not been the only marathon contestant to earn a victory dishonestly. In September 1991, spectators noticed that the winner of the Brussels marathon, Abbes Tehami, had somehow shaved his moustache off during the race. It turned out that Tehami had only finished the race. His coach had started it for him.

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/day/04_20_2001.html

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[kanrok]

1. Yeah, but the WHITE SOX WIN

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[edbermac]

3. White Sox did not win, the umpire won it for them...

That was a BULLSHIT call; one of the worst I've ever seen...:grr:

[kanrok]

4. Oooohhh..a disgruntled BoSox fan

Give it up. The Angels couldn't hit Buehrle. They couldn't hold Ozuna on first in the 9th. Josh Paul couldn't throw Ozuna out (He held the ball while Ozuna strolled into scoring position) and Escobar hangs a splitter that Crede creams. Plus, the Ump is on Comcast saying he HEARD the ball it the ground. Watch the replay. Quit whining.

[SaintLouisBlues]

2. This inspired me to google up the 1904 Olympics Marathon in St. Louis

http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/st_louis_olympics/index.html


"The first man to cross the finish line was Fred Lorz from New York City. Lorz had completed the race in just over three hours time. When he entered the stadium, the crowd roared with excitement. Photographs were taken of President Roosevelt's daughter Alice placing a laurel wreath over Lorz's head.

Lorz's moment in the limelight did not last very long. Just as Lorz was about to accept his medal, officials learned that Lorz had been spotted passing the halfway mark in an automobile. It seems that Lorz had been suffering from cramps, so he hitched a ride at the 9 mile point. He then rode in the vehicle for another eleven miles, at which point the car overheated and broke down. He waived at the spectators and fellow runners along the way. Lorz, now rejuvenated from his ride, chose to run the rest of the race.

Lorz claimed that he never meant to fool anyone - he just couldn't resist the praise and adulation of the roaring crowd. Lorz was immediately banned for life from any future amateur competition. This ban was lifted a year later allowing him to win the Boston Marathon (we'll assume that he was closely watched)."