Recho Kosgei, after an ambitious and exhausting run she led, wavered 800 meters away from the finish line. She took on a dramatic fight to get back to the race. According to the rules of IAAF, helping her would mean automatic disqualification and wasting all the effort of the day. The athlete was conscious, and her life was not endangered. Since the athlete did not signal that she wants to give up, the marathon staff standing on the side of the road and in the lead vehicle that stopped in front of her has monitored the situation. An ambulance was called immediately.
As the athlete herself describes this situation: ‘I felt very strong the whole race. I don’t remember what happened at that point. When I see myself on the video I just know I really wanted to get up and keep going. (…) I was so confident and knew this was going to be my day. After all those months of hard work with my trainingsmates of Volare Sports, I knew I could do it.’
As her manager said before, Recho missed her bottles at the 30, 35 and 40km mark during the race. ‘It was a torture, I saw the Ethiopan lady passing me and knew the game was over. But I thank God I am healthy. I was taken to the hospital and they took good care of me. I could travel home the next day.’
We have been in contact with the organizers about this matter, they have taken care of Recho in their best way possible. Assistance came immediately when they discovered. Normally officials are not allowed to help because the athlete will be disqualified. Our collegue rushed to Recho and helped her out. She was helped as soon as possible. — says the manager of the athlete.
Full statement of the Recho Kosgei manager you can find: HERE.
