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Mexico City Marathon Criticized After Wheelchair Crash as City Cites Faulty Drain Cover

The crash has intensified complaints about course safety and prize inequality for para-athletes.

Overview

  • Two wheelchair leaders, Francisco Sanclemente and Gonzalo Valdovinos, crashed near km 20 on Calzada Chivatito; medical teams assisted on site and Valdovinos recovered to finish third.
  • Silver medalist Marco Antonio Caballero used the awards stage to denounce recurring hazards and prize gaps, noting wheelchair winners receive about 60,000 pesos versus roughly 50,000 dollars for conventional champions.
  • City officials rejected that a pothole caused the fall and said a miscovered drainage register was responsible, adding that repairs and follow-up work are underway and the event had a reported saldo blanco.
  • Ethiopians Tadu Abate Deme and Bekelech Gudeta Borecha won the elite races, while José Alan Frías and Brenda Osnaya topped the wheelchair divisions, with Osnaya setting a women’s course record of 1:59:52.
  • Public criticism grew on social media and in the press, and coverage highlighted a clash between pre‑race assurances that the route was repaired and athlete accounts describing dangerous defects.