St. Louis Marathon Winner Cheated, Loses Title

Race officials say Kendall Schler didn't finish third last year, either
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 17, 2015 6:24 PM CDT
St. Louis Marathon Winner Cheated, Loses Title
Kendall Schler, 26, is seen moments after crossing the finish line of the Go! St. Louis Marathon on April 12.   (J.B. Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

Kendall Schler was the first woman to cross the finish line in Sunday's St. Louis Marathon, but it turns out she took a short cut. Race officials have stripped her of the win after determining that she slipped onto the course late, after the final checkpoint, and cruised to victory, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. What's more, officials then looked into her supposed third-place finish last year and found that to be fishy as well. It, too, has been disqualified. After this year's race, officials couldn't figure out why the timing strip on her race bib had recorded no times—it should have clocked her at seven different spots along the route.

Schler said she had removed the timing strip, but officials didn't buy it, especially after none of the officials on the course remembered seeing her anywhere. That's difficult to imagine happening because of the attention focused on the leaders during the race. The new winner is graduate student Andrea Karl, who finished about four minutes after Schler, only to be informed to her surprise that she took second place. (Bicyclists that accompany the leader were with her, notes KSDK-TV.) She missed out on the winner's photo with Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee, but she'll get belated glory and the $1,500 prize. (More St. Louis stories.)

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