Arien O’Connell ran the fastest time in Sunday’s Nike Women’s Marathon, but she was told by race officials that she didn’t win because she wasn’t among the “elite” runners who were given a 20-minute head start.
Even though she ran 11 minutes faster than Nora Colligan, she was not awarded first place which lead to a public outcry which seemed to quickly lead sportswear giant Nike to quickly go into damage control mode and reverse it’s decision.
Race organizers said later on that O’Connell and Colligan would both be considered winners of the marathon and also apparently Nike is dumping the entire “elite” format due to this fiasco.
Arien O’Connell photo via SFgate