This archive report was first published on 15 September 2021.
On September 12, 2021, Ethiopia's Derara Hurisa made history by winning the Vienna City marathon with a time of 2:09:22. However, his victory was short-lived as he was disqualified soon after due to a rule violation.
The reason for his disqualification was the thickness of the soles of his shoes, which were found to be five centimetres thick, exceeding the allowed limit of four centimetres. This was a clear breach of the rules, and Hurisa had worn a different set of shoes to the ones he had mentioned on his form.
According to race co-ordinator Hannes Langer, the rules about the shoes were clearly stated in the technical meeting, and there was no other choice but to disqualify the athlete. Langer also expressed his confidence that from now on, there will be some form of checks to avoid similar incidents in major races.
As a result of Hurisa's disqualification, Kenya's Leonard Langat, who finished three seconds behind him, was declared the winner. Langat expressed his gratitude to God for his unexpected win and stated that he had no clue about the disqualification until they told him.
The Vienna City marathon was held in tough conditions, with many runners complaining of the extreme heat. The event was also overshadowed by the death of a participant in the half-marathon. An Austrian runner collapsed at the end of the race and was rushed to hospital, where the 40-year-old died. The organisers expressed their deep sympathy to the relatives of the runner and stated that they were not aware of any further details.
