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Man Accused Of Cheating In London Marathon Says He Deserved Medal

Man Accused Of Cheating In London Marathon Says He Deserved Medal

Homeless man Stanley Skupien says getting that medal made him feel incredible

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

The man accused of using another athlete's bib to complete the London Marathon has been revealed and he's made a bold claim that he deserved to win his medal.

The Sun found homeless Stanley Skupien in Heathrow Airport where staff apparently know him. He hopped over the fence at the 12-mile mark and started running shirtless so as to not be kicked off the course for not wearing a bib.

Triangle News

But as he approached the finish line, he picked one up that had fallen off another runner.

"I deserved my medal," the Polish builder said, speaking to the newspaper.

"I saw the number face-up in the middle of the road. I knew if I had one I would get a medal - my heart leaped, it was a dream come true. I had no thoughts of the person whose number it was.

"I picked it up and held it to my chest as I crossed the line, I was in tears.

"A woman put the medal around my neck and told me 'well done'. I kept kissing it - it was my biggest moment ever."

But while Stanley lapped up the moment by kissing his medal and guzzling bubbly with spectators, the bloke who lost his bib was heartbroken.

Jake Halliday, 28, had run virtually the entire marathon, only to get to the final mile and be evacuated from the course because his bib was missing.

Fellow runner Peter Mowbray ran the marathon with his wife and heard rumblings about the bib theft when he finished.

He said: "I couldn't believe this so we went on the Virgin London Marathon website and you can clearly see Jake's number and you can clearly see the pictures of Jake are completely different to the guy with his number at the end.

Triangle News

"Running a marathon takes over your life, you think about training, nutrition, avoiding injury, a huge amount of dedication, and that's before you think about raising money for your charity.

Jake had raised £48,000 for charity Bloodwise and was understandably devastated when he was told he couldn't finish the race.

Stanley adds: "I feel bad for Jake. But he crossed the line without his number so he'd have been disqualified anyway. I thought I'd present the medal to my seven-year-old son Viktos as it would make him so proud of me."

He said that he also wanted to make a statement for homeless people, to make it clear that they can do anything.

Featured Image Credit: Triangle News

Topics: UK News, Investigation, UK, London