Buzunesh Deba, the genuine winner of the 2014 Boston Marathon, has yet to receive the $100,000 award. Deba, who had initially finished second, was awarded the winner after Rita Jeptoo was disqualified for doping.
Deba has yet to receive full money for her victory, despite being informed eight years ago, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Deba won $25,000 for finishing second, a portion of the winner’s award. The remaining $75,000 owing to her by the Boston Athletic Association has not yet been paid. The nonpayment is apparently due to Jeptoo’s refusal to surrender her money. In an official statement, the association stated that “the matter is still ongoing.”
Deba, on the other hand, highlighted that the BAA is responsible for paying out her due winnings, regardless of Jeptoo’s behavior. The Ethiopian elite runner paused her sports career to start a family.
She recounted watching Jeptoo’s seemingly unaffected post-marathon condition, only to learn months later that he had tested positive for EPO, a banned chemical. The International Court of Arbitration in Sport conducted subsequent investigations, which discovered indications of doping in Jeptoo’s pre-2014 marathon samples.
Jeptoo, a Kenyan native, received a four-year suspension. Despite this, her victories in 2006 and 2013 are unchallenged. Jeptoo claimed $150,000 for her 2014 triumph, as well as an additional $25,000 for setting a course record, both of which Deba is legally entitled to. The Ethiopian runner’s record of 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 59 seconds remains the fastest in Boston Marathon history.
The BAA’s delay in paying Deba fits with World Athletics’ criteria, which require ineligible athletes to reimburse forfeited award money before receiving new payments. However, the BAA has the option of compensating Deba willingly. According to The Wall Street Journal, the association’s assets total around $30 million.
Jeptoo, like Rosie Ruiz, who famously cut the route in 1980, was one of the few people disqualified from the Boston Marathon after crossing the finish line on Boylston Street.
“She took my chance,” Deba commented in 2017, after returning to Boston, where she had finished third and eighth. “I lost so many things.”
“When you are the champion, the next year, the appearance fees, the contracts, everything” is more profitable, the two-time New York City Marathon runner-up explained in 2017. “That day is what makes me happy. “But she took it from me.”
Worku Beyi, Deba’s husband and coach, stated that they are also discussing the prize money with BAA officials, “but it is not 100 percent.” They hope Jeptoo returns the money.
“She knows herself that she is not a champion,” Beyi remarked.