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Tuesday, 18 October 2005 |
Kenyan Benson Cherono wins ill-fated Beijing International Marathon
A Chinese man died during the Beijing International Marathon on Sunday, the same race in which two runners died last year.
The man, surnamed Wang, collapsed about 27 km (17 miles) into the race
and was rushed to hospital, but doctors were unable to save his life.
Xinhua news agency reported the tragic news without stating a reason
for his death.
Kenya's Benson Cherono took the men's title, even though he
accidentally had run off course at one section, the China Daily
reported.
Defending champion Sun Yingjie of China won the women's race.
Benson Cherono, third place finisher at April's Boston Marathon,
mistakenly followed a television broadcast van instead of the official
pilot car for one km. The wrong turn meant he ended up running 800
metres less than the marathon's full 42.2 km, the report said.
But Cherono was given the trophy anyway because he crossed the finish
line one kilometre ahead of second place finisher, fellow Kenyan and
last year's champion James Moiben.
"I don't know what happened and I didn't know I had taken the wrong course," Benson Cherono was quoted as saying.
The two officials responsible for the section where Benson Cherono went
astray did not see him make the wrong turn, the Beijing Morning Post
said.
"This is a rarely-seen situation in marathon history and it is an
obvious fault made by our referees," head referee Wen Fusheng was
quoted as saying by the China Daily.
"The navigator on the pilot car is also responsible."
In the 2004 Beijing Marathon, a university student and a retired man
both died and their deaths were believed to be due to dehydration.
Eleven other participants were taken to hospital.
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