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Joe Allison / Getty Images
Robbie Johnston was disqualified for spitting at the Athletics NZ Cross-Country Challenge in Dunedin.
Robbie Johnston was nowhere near a rival when he crossed the finish line at the Athletics New Zealand Cross-Country Challenge on Saturday.
But the former Olympic long-distance runner was warming up after a convincing win in the men’s 50-54 age group for the mastery when he was told he had been disqualified for spitting during the Dunedin race.
The 53-year-old said he was told he had been seen spitting twice at the Chisholm Links circuit during the 8-kilometer race.
“I was the only person all day to be disqualified out of more than 300 people,” said a puzzled Johnston. Stuff.
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“In the end I thought it was a joke.”
Because the event was held under Alert Level 2 guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic, the competitors had Athletics New Zealand guidelines that included: “While running, avoid spitting or discharging mucus from your nose to view of others or near other competitors. Anyone found to be spitting in an offensive manner could be disqualified. “
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Athletics NZ confirmed that Johnston was disqualified based on Attendee Information, but declined to comment on the matter.
“Apparently, you should get a yellow card and then a red card – I never got any warning or anything when I was there,” Johnston said.
“I thought they were teasing me at first.
“I don’t know if I was [spitting] or not, normally I wouldn’t spit anything. “
Johnston, who represented New Zealand at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics, said he saw people “spit a little bit before a race. I thought it was a bit of a stretch to be fair, to be an example of someone. “
Stuff
Robbie Johnston competed in the men’s 10,000 meters at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Unofficially, Johnston was the first to cross the line in the 50-54 age group in 30 minutes and seven seconds, with Canterbury’s Robert Howell next best in 31m 48s.
“I saw later in the results that the only others with a warning [for spitting] they were all in the same grade. “
The event was scheduled to run as the 2020 national cross country championship, but had to be demoted with athletes from Auckland unable to travel to compete.
“It’s not super serious or anything, but it put a bit of a brake on it. He could be the first person in history to be disqualified from a race for spitting.
“It is very unlikely that he would participate if he had any disease, much less Covid, because he would not have been able to be out there doing that.”
Johnston said he felt more aggrieved over the weekend.
“I was watching the Warriors and after Roger Tuivasa-Sheck scored one of his attempts, he was having a couple of hoicks walking back to the middle and you think, there’s probably more impact in a soccer game when they tackle you and everything. than.”
