BOSTON — The Boston Athletic Association (BAA) is offering to issue payments to clean runners who missed out on prize money because participants who were found to have engaged in doping practices placed higher.
The BAA says they have begun contacting runners who have been re-ranked after those who were caught doping were disqualified after the fact, the organization announced Tuesday. The BAA says they will offer the payments to any runner who would have otherwise won the prize money since 1986, when prize money was first offered.
The athletic organization is also attempting to reclaim prize money that had already been paid out.
“While the multi-step process to reclaim and redistribute prize money has been complex and time-consuming for all involved, we have worked – and continue to work—diligently towards a resolution that supports clean athletes while still holding all athletes accountable,” Jack Fleming, President and CEO of the B.A.A. said in a statement. “Athletes will receive the prize money they rightfully earned at our races with these payments.”
Impacted runners who opt for the payment can expect to receive the money in the new year, the BAA says.
“We are supporting athletes who competed in our events, and who believed they would be rewarded for their top finishing place,” said Fleming. “We are doing what we can to ensure fair competition among athletes, and we will always seek to play host to the fairest of playing fields at all of our events.”
Kenyan runner Rita Jeptoo was stripped of her 2014 Boston Marathon victory as part of the BAA’s newly extended doping ban.
Athletes can apply for voluntary payments at baa.org/prize-money-voluntary-payments.
Any athletes who has ever been sanctioned for anti-doping offenses are not eligible to receive any voluntary payment. If an athlete who is provided with a voluntary payment is disqualified at a later date, the BAA will seek to recoup the payment.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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