Madrazo denies cheating in race

Roberto Madrazo, who finished third in Mexico’s presidential election last year, denied Wednesday that he had intended any deception with his since-disqualified victory in the “men’s 55-and-over” category of the Berlin Marathon.

A computer chip in his shoe showed he took a short cut, skipping as many as nine miles of the 26.2-mile course and making him the butt of jokes in the Mexican and German media. On Monday, race officials stripped him of his first-place finish in the senior category.

In a seven-page letter Wednesday addressed to “Mexico’s Sporting Community,” Madrazo said he had never intended to run the entire course during the Sept. 30 event. Before the race, his doctors told him to rest, but he went to Berlin anyway, he wrote.

“The result: I had to stop at kilometer 21 [about halfway on the course] and I went directly to the finish line to get my clothes and my participant’s medal, which is given to all runners, without exception.”

Madrazo didn’t explain why he opened his arms wide in the victory pose captured by a wire service photo, or why he allowed the controversy to fester on the front pages of Mexico’s newspapers for more than a week before responding.