Would-Be Mexican Prez Exposed as Marathon Cheat

Mexican politician Roberto Madrazo, who placed a distant third in last year's presidential election, was stripped of his victory in the Berlin Marathon yesterday, the AP reports. Madrazo, dressed in suspiciously warm pants and a jacket, won the men's age-55 category last week in 2:41:12, but a review of electronic checkpoints revealed that he took a shortcut.

Madrazo's political career was also dotted by shortcuts. In 1996 he was accused of spending tens of millions more than allowed to win a state governorship. He later told police, in an apparent ploy for sympathy, that he'd been kidnapped and beaten for 7 hours. Madrazo's PRI party was known for election fraud during its decades-long rule. (More Mexico stories.)