Boston Athletic Association to compensate athletes affected by doping scandals

NEW YORK: The Boston Athletic Association (BAA), organizer of the world’s oldest annual marathon, announced on Tuesday that it will pay prize money to athletes who were denied fair placement in races due to competitors’ doping violations.

The initiative, which will compensate affected runners dating back to 1986—the year prize money was introduced—follows the re-ranking of results from disqualified athletes. This includes high-profile cases like Kenya’s Diana Kipyokei, who was stripped of her 2021 Boston Marathon title and handed a six-year ban for doping.

BAA President and CEO Jack Fleming emphasized the organization’s commitment to supporting clean athletes. “While the multi-step process to reclaim and redistribute prize money has been complex and time-consuming for all involved, we have worked – and continue to work — diligently towards a resolution that supports clean athletes,” he said in a statement.

The payouts, set to begin in January, will be voluntary, with the BAA encouraging athletes who believe they were impacted by doping offenders to apply for compensation.(Reuters)