Marathon Winner Stripped of Victory for Receiving Water from Father During Race
A California athlete was stripped of his marathon title on Sunday for receiving a water cup from his father, who was patrolling the 26.2-mile course on his bicycle.
Esteban Prado, 24, won the Orange County Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 54 seconds. However, he was disqualified shortly after crossing the finish line for receiving unauthorized assistance from his father, which officials deemed “unauthorized aid.”
“During yesterday’s Hoag OC Marathon, we were forced to disqualify a participant after confirming receipt of unauthorized assistance from an individual on a bicycle, contrary to USA Track & Field rules and our race regulations,” race director Gary Kutschar said in a statement. “We take these rules seriously to ensure fairness and integrity of our event for all competitors.”
According to the USATF rulebook, runners are allowed to receive water from designated water stations along the race course.
Prado appears to have received assistance from his father with water in three separate instances, according to photos obtained by NBC Los Angeles.
In one instance, Prado led the pack of runners as he approached his father who was seated on a bicycle and provided both of them with water as they traveled under the field.
However, Prado seemed to bypass at least 3 volunteers who had their hands out offering water bottles before meeting his father.
“Because I was the lead, a lot of the volunteers were kind of like asleep,” Prado told the station. “When I got there, they were… grabbing water. So a lot of the water stations, they didn’t really have anything for me.”
Prado, participating in his second full marathon race, was unaware that he could face disqualification for receiving water from his family and claimed race staff were not ready at the water distribution stations.
