Sunday, October 22, 2006

A Wild Finish in the Chicago Marathon

Whoah, talk about a wild finish to a marathon! Today's winner, Robert Cheruiyot slipped and fell backwards, landing flat on his back and hitting his head, as he crossed the finish line. I was watching the race live as it happened (see video here), and he literally slipped under the finish banner, never touching it. Cheruiyot had just finished holding off Daniel Njenga in a push to the finish, but for a moment there was question as to whether he had officially crossed the finish line. He was ruled the winner, however, as most of his body crossed the line as he slipped. Said official race referee, Pat Savage,
He just slipped. Luckily for him, he slipped...forward. The finish line is right at the beginning of the mat, and he ended up sliding right across it. ... There is no doubt about it; he's the winner.
Undoubtedly feeling somewhat better because he is the winner, Cheruiyot is recovering overnight at a local hospital after suffering some external and internal bleeding in his head.

How ironic that he had just successfully won a 26.2 mile race only to be felled by the finish line.

No comments: