Railway athlete banned for switching bibs to run marathon for doctor’s wife, another

In an apparent case of “bib switch,” three runners have been banned who took part in the Athletics Federation of India-approved Apollo Tyres New Delhi Marathon held last month.

A sports quota railway employee allegedly ran for the wife of a railway doctor and another participant leading to the accusations of cheating.

The organizers of the Feb 23 event, NEB Sports said that “running for someone else amounts to cheating” and the “race management team has taken strict action against them,” banning them for two years. It said that they would make this decision public by “posting on social media, to bring down such cases in the future,” as reported by The Indian Express.

“There were incidents of cheating during the Apollo New Delhi Marathon (in the non-elite categories). We have suspended the three athletes involved. We will be submitting our report to the Athletics Federation of India on Monday. The Federation can take further action as they wish,” told Nagaraj Adiga, CMD of NEB Sports and the race director.

Sources revealed that the railway doctor's wife ran the initial part of the marathon at a slow pace, but suddenly, her timing improved dramatically leading to the suspicion.

Photographs shared by the organizers revealed that a railway sports quota employee was wearing her bib (race number) during the fastest segment of the race.

During marathons, a chip records the timing of the participants, usually a transponder or RFID tag which is on the bib on the runner’s chest.

The readings of the scanner at the start and finish determine the time taken by the runner to complete the race.

Although the the sports quota employee or the doctor’s wife didn’t respond to any comments, her husband said, “No action has been taken. I am part of the management. I can tell you that she fell unconscious after 34 km. He (the sports quota employee) ran with her bib mistakenly.”

“We have clarified this and she has not been banned. We have asked, and the NEB has removed the data of her performance from their website,” he was quoted as saying.