Tragedy Strikes Track and Field World as Marathon Runner Fights for His Life in Argentina

On 24 September, the highly anticipated Buenos Aires Marathon took place. In the 38th edition of this marathon-foot race, many staunch track and field athletes were spotted showcasing their talent on the roads of Argentina. The 2016 Rio Olympics 10,000m silver medalist Paul Kipngetich Tanui and sprinter Cornelius Kibet Kiplagat were seen in a heated competition at the event.

Interestingly, amid the heated competition, a tragedy was struck at the marathon. A 29-year-old Kenyan long-distance sprinter was spotted running for his life in Argentina as a four-legged animal abrupted his race. A picture of the athlete trying to run away from the animal has made waves in the sports community.

Track and field sprinter runs for his life

On September 28, Track and Spice posted an intriguing picture on X. The photo was captioned, “Kenyan runner Robert Kimutai Ngeno attacked by a stray dog at the Buenos Aires Marathon held last Sunday in Argentina”  The athlete was spotted running away from the dog on the streets to save his life. Ngeno had passed the halfway mark with a time of 1:03.21 and was in the lead while covering the 25km to 38km mark of the race when the dog approached the sprinter, leading him to lose the lead.

A few people, including sprinter Cornelius Kibet Kiplagat and Olympian Paul Kipngetich Taniu, came to Ngenos’s rescue and chased the dog away. However, amid this encounter, the sprinter lost his chance of winning and had to settle for the third position by clocking in at 2:10.16.

The first and second positions were taken by Edna Kiplagat and Paul Kipngetich Tanui, who finished the race in 2:08.29 and 2:09.57, respectively. Interestingly, this is not the first time the athletes have encountered animals while sprinting on the tracks. In 2021, a dog was spotted running a relay race at a high school track meet.

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A dog spotted running on high school tracks

In April 2021, the Grizzly Invitational race was being held at Logan High School, Utah, when, in the final leg of the 200-meter relay, a dog managed to enter the track. In a viral video, the four-legged animal, despite wearing a leash, was spotted giving heated competition to sprinters and even managed to surpass the winning runner, Gracie Laney, to win the event.

The dog had also tripped Laney while showing his performance on the Utah tracks. After this one-of-a-kind race, the high school senior told the media, “I thought it was kind of funny that I got beat by a dog.”

In essence, despite the dog hampering Robert Kitmutai Ngeno’s performance at the event, the athlete still managed to secure a seat on the podium. Nonetheless, in light of this incident, the authorities should take the necessary precautions and avoid any such abruptions in the future keeping in mind the safety of athletes.

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