A prominent social media influencer has been disqualified and banned from the New York City Marathon for filming the famous Big Apple race with an “unauthorized” e-bike escort.
Matt Choi, 29, ran the District 5 course on Sunday in an incredible time of 2 hours, 57 minutes, 15 seconds. But Time will be removed from the list of finishers after organizers say his two-wheeled stunt was a hindrance to other runners. Report by Runner's World magazine.
As a result, he was suspended for life.
“I messed up.” Choi said on Instagram on Tuesday.. “No excuses. Full stop. On Sunday I was selfish and had my brother and a videographer chase me around the course on an electric bike, which had serious consequences. We put other runners at risk. exposed and influenced people trying to achieve their goals. [personal best times]we stopped people from getting water.
“The New York City Marathon is about other people and the community, so I made it about myself,” he added. “And I'm sorry to anyone I've influenced. To be clear, this is 100% my fault and it wasn't my brother trying to challenge me or my partner trying to please me. But not.”
The New York Road Runners, which is sponsoring the 54-year-old's 26-mile race, said in a statement that Choi has the option of appealing the ruling, but he does not want to do so.
“I made my bed and I'm going to lie down in it,” he said on Instagram. “This isn't the first time I've been accused of using an e-bike to get content, but it ends here. It will never happen again. My word is my bond.”
Choi has set impressive times in past races and has amassed more than 465,000 followers on TikTok and 405,000 on Instagram, but this isn't the first time she's broken the rules.
Runner's World said he wore another runner's bib at the 2023 Houston Marathon, but in other cities he is prohibited from wearing a bib, even if he is allowed to practice for the race.
However, Choi posted a remarkable average time of 6 minutes, 46 seconds per mile in Sunday's race, and ran a time of 1 hour, 24 minutes, 26 seconds in May's Brooklyn Half Marathon race, the newspaper reported.
The Road Runners announced in a statement to the Post that Choi was suspended for interfering with other runners.
“As a result of our investigation, NYRR has disqualified Matt Choi from the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon and excluded him from the results due to violations of the World Athletic Rules and the New York Road Runners Code of Conduct and Competition Rules.” said. .
“He has been banned from competing in future NYRR races.”
