November 16th 2023.
Dr Joasia Zakrewski, an ultra-marathon runner from Scotland, has been banned from UK Athletics for a year after using a car to help her complete a 50 mile race. On April 7th, Dr Zakrewski had accepted the third place trophy, despite using a vehicle during the race between Manchester and Liverpool.
Once news of her method had been revealed, the 47-year-old runner was stripped of the third place title. Dr Zakrewski claimed to have told race officials about her use of the vehicle and that she had completed the race in a ‘noncompetitive way.’
The Independent Disciplinary Panel of UK Athletics stated that the runner had accepted the trophy at the end of the race, something which she should not have done if she was competing non-competitively. They also noted that she had not sought to return the trophy in the week following the race.
Dr Zakrewski apologised for the incident, but maintained that using the car was not done ‘maliciously.’ She told BBC Scotland, ‘I made a massive error accepting the trophy and should have handed it back. I was tired and jetlagged and felt sick. It wasn’t malicious, it was miscommunication. I would never purposefully cheat and this was not a target race but I don’t want to make excuses.’
Friends of Dr Zakrewski said that she had only landed from Australia a few hours before the race. Mel Sykes, the runner who should have rightfully taken third place, posted her thoughts on social media. She wrote, ‘The sad thing in all this is that it completely takes the p*** out of the race organisers, fellow competitors and fair sport. How can someone who knows they have cheated cross a finish line, collect a medal/trophy and have their photos taken?!’
Dr Zakrzewski, who represented Team Scotland in the marathon at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and has set records in the UK over 100 and 200 miles, expressed her devastation at the incident. She said, ‘I was feeling unwell and spaced out and not thinking clearly. I hold my hands up, I should have handed them back and not had pictures done.’
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