Two Marathon Moments Make the Shortlist for World Athletics’ Fair Play Award

Two of the three finalists for this year’s International Fair Play Award come from marathons, World Athletics announced on Friday. Kenya’s Irine Cheptai is nominated for handing her drink to Australian Paralympian Michael Roeger at the Sydney Marathon, and a pair of Boston Marathon runners for stopping in the final stretch to help a fallen stranger finish. Pole vaulters Mondo Duplantis and Emmanouil Karalis are the third.

Roeger, 38, has no right forearm or hand, and in Sydney on Aug. 30 the drink tables were set up on the right-hand side of the road. He missed four drink stations, according to the World Athletics release, and at around 30K Cheptai offered him what she was carrying. He crossed the line in 2:18:36, 29th overall, which took 17 seconds off the T46 world record he had held since the 2019 London Marathon, as AAP reported after the race. Asked about the drinks, he told AAP: “I just get on with it but it’s handy feedback for next time.”

Cheptai and Peres Jepchirchir were still together at 30K, according to the World Athletics race report, before Jepchirchir pulled away to win in 2:18:31 for her fourth different major title. Cheptai finished second in 2:22:11, more than three minutes back. Roeger, who ran with the leading women, was five seconds behind the winner at the line. In AAP’s post-race account it was Jepchirchir who shared her drinks with him; the World Athletics nomination names Cheptai. In the quotes AAP published, Roeger does not name either woman. “That’s the camaraderie in a marathon,” he said, adding: “I just said thank you and we gave a nod to each other and we kept running together. It’s special.”

The Sydney run has also given Roeger, a bronze and silver medalist over 1,500m at the Paralympics, a case to make. He is pushing for his marathon event to be on the program at the Brisbane 2032 Paralympics, AAP reported. Its last outing was in Tokyo in 2021, where he finished sixth despite stress fractures in his leg. “I’ve got so much more to give in the marathon,” he said.

Two Runners Carry a Third in Boston

At this year’s Boston Marathon on April 20, Ajay Haridasse, a 21-year-old Northeastern University student, collapsed in the last few hundred meters and couldn’t rise. The Associated Press put him about 1,000 feet from the finish; Athletics Northern Ireland said 200 meters. Aaron Beggs, a North Down Athletic Club runner from Bangor who had been heading for a personal best, according to Athletics NI, pulled him to his feet. His legs went again within a few steps, and Robson De Oliveira, a 30-year-old from Brazil, got under his other arm. Between them they got Haridasse down Boylston Street and across the line.

“I looked at my watch, and I looked at him again, and the natural instinct was just to go and pick him up,” Beggs told the AP. Their official finish times came in 10 seconds apart, 2:44:26 for De Oliveira, 2:44:32 for Haridasse and 2:44:36 for Beggs, and the AP reported that the result met the qualifying standard for the 2027 race. “Three strangers, three different countries, and we’ll have a story for the rest of our lives,” Beggs said.

Duplantis, Karalis and the Vote

The pole vault nomination recognizes the way Duplantis and Karalis compete with each other, and World Athletics pointed to their meeting in Zurich, where Duplantis cleared 6.25m, then the year’s best outdoor height, and Karalis went over 6.20m for a Greek record.

Fans can vote on World Athletics’ social media channels until Nov. 16, and those votes are combined with votes from a six-member jury that includes Paula Radcliffe, World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon and last year’s winner, steeplechaser Tim Van de Velde. He won for stopping in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Tokyo world championships to help the injured Carlos San Martin to the line, at the risk of disqualification, according to World Athletics. Since the International Fair Play Committee began working with World Athletics in 2003, 13 winners have been named, and the 14th will be announced before the World Athletics Awards on Sunday, Nov. 29.