The London Marathon is back for another year as a crowded crowd of runners descend on the city’s streets to participate in the gruesome event, which has produced plenty of celebrity drama over the years.
The grueling 26.2-mile course of the London Marathon is ready for another group of 40 000 swarms of swarms of city residents. The iconic race will of course feature famous faces in the numbers.
Celebrities typically rise to the occasion to raise thousands of dollars for charity and display their impressive medals at the finish line.
Not all race-going public figures, however, have had the same sort of success. Some have even admitted to cheating, leading to a lot of drama and scandal along the way.
We examine the biggest scandals that have occurred at the sporting event over the course of its 44-year history…
The “water-gate” of Mo Farah
In front of awaiting cameras in 2018, Sir Mo Farah made a terrible error.
On a scorching day in the capital, the Olympic hero attempted to quench his thirst by picking up a fellow competitor’s water bottle. Mo realized his error and ran back, wasting valuable time on his own drink.
The champion then became enraged and frustrated as he continued to make the same error later in the course.
The volunteers then exchange powerful words with Mo. After the race, Mo stated, “I know they were really helpful toward the end, but at first someone was trying to take pictures, but after 15k I found it ok.
I just instructed the safety stewards to appoint a little more helpful staff members, please. They were doing that at the end to stop taking pictures and perhaps point at my drink.
“My drink and the other runners’ drinks both had identical looks.” I was not wasting my energy. I needed a drink, so I had to get that right otherwise I would have been done.
Jade Goody’s training plan was fueled by alcohol and curry.
In preparation for the London Marathon many runners adapt their lifestyles to include gruelling fitness plans, a strict diet and cut out alcohol completely, but Big Brother legend Jade Goody had a different approach in the lead up to the long-distance running event.
The late mother-of-two’s place in pop culture history was established in 2006 when she “got bored” with her London Marathon training, only finishing four practice sessions before the big day, and failing to pass the 26.2-mile course’s finish line.
When Jade attempted to complete the marathon in order to raise money for children’s charity the NSPCC, she was later criticized by critics who at the time demanded medical attention.
The late reality TV star admitted to “consuming curry, Chinese, and drinking” just days before the race, prompting a spokeswoman to reveal that the mum-of-two had no previous records after she completed the 18.5″ (30km) mark in 4 hours and 37 minutes.
The Guardian reported that around the 18.5 mile mark, Jade “turned blue” and yelled “I’m dying” to paramedics, but the late star, who passed away from cervical cancer in 2009, later claimed she managed to run 21 miles before slinging the end.
Jade remarked, “I’ve never worked so hard in my life.”
As she recovered at her Essex mansion afterward, she said, “I felt like I was dying,” adding that the £355 sponsorship money she raised would go to her nominated charity, the NSPCC.
Not too bad of a work, given Jade didn’t manage to run a marathon, but 18. 5 miles is still well over the total distance of well-known half-marathons like The Great North Run!
Katie Price switches to a more traditional outfit and then the race.
The former glamour model strapped her lungs to her back for her second time during the 2018 London Marathon. In honor of her mother, Kate was supporting the British Lung Foundation.
The glamour model quit just 15 kilometers in with her plastic lungs, which were later discovered abandoned by the side of the road, despite making an impressive appearance.
An onlooker said: “I was out for a run and came across Katie’s outfit. It seems the copper that was carrying them taken them to a safe place for Katie. But now they’re lying in the street. It’s possible someone took them as a souvenir but couldn’t carry them because they’re really heavy.
They’ll probably be crushed up in one of the council’s lorries before the afternoon is out because it’s bin day in the area as well. It’s really unfortunate.
Reality TV “cheats.”
Although the London Marathon is a fun event, cheating accusations are made year after year, with some celebrities getting sucked into claims they didn’t cut a few corners when crossing the finish line.
The sister of TOWIE star James ‘Arg’ Argent raised eyebrows in 2016 when she managed run 20k in just 39 minutes – over 10 minutes faster than the then-current world record of 55:21km held by male athlete Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea.
After recording the suspect hours, race officials at the time confirmed Natasha was being looked into. Later, the reality TV star’s sibling explained how a panic attack had caused her to retake the course.
She told OK! “People were cheering on me and I felt like I didn’t deserve the cheers.” magazine in 2016″. It was terrible all around. If I’ve caused any harm, I’m so sorry.
Natasha will return her finisher medal, according to the London Marathon organizers.
In 2019, former Love Island star Georgia Harrison impressively ran the London Marathon in exactly four hours – going on to admit after the race she hadn’t done much training and had been partying just days before she put her running shoes on for the gruelling challenge.
While many fans praised the reality TV star for her incredible accomplishments, some accused her of cheating, leading the reality TV star to refute the accusations.
A Georgia representative told OK! “To say that Georgia cheated is absolutely ridiculous is ridiculous. at the time in magazines. She did some training when she had the time, but all she wanted was a very strong-willed young woman.
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Source: Mirror
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