Misled Runners Still Headed to World Half Marathon Championship
After an official vehicle led the leaders off course at a qualifying race, the U.S. will send a larger contingent to the women's half marathon world championship to make up for the mix-up.
In an unprecedented turn of events, the leading runners in a qualifying race for the women's half marathon world championship were mistakenly led off the course by an official vehicle. However, the U.S. is taking steps to ensure those affected runners will still earn their spots on the world championship team.
Runners who were likely to finish near the front and qualify for the world championship were thrown off when the lead vehicle directed them down the wrong path. This unforeseen error by race officials has led to an unusual decision by the governing body, USA Track and Field (USATF), to nearly double the size of the U.S. contingent for the world championship event.
The incident occurred at the recent Atlanta Half Marathon, which served as the USATF Half Marathon Championships and a qualifier for the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships. Jess McClain, who was the likely winner, found herself off the course and unable to finish the race properly.
Source: NPR
