Two weeks ago long distance runner Kerstin Metzler-Mennenga (LIE) became a national hero after running 2:42:21 in the Berlin marathon. But all was not as good as it seemed.

The time of 2:42:21 was the new women’s marathon record for the country of Liechtenstein but it soon appeared that she did not even run the race. As it turned out, the 26 year old tried to get herself a ticket for the 2008 Olympics through cheating.

Metzler-Mennenga had apparently been visiting various running forums under an assumed name and looked for marathon runners who could run between 2:45 and 2:48 to assist in some scientific research she was doing. (The Olympic qualifying norm for the country of Liechtenstein is 2:48:50). She eventually matched up with a German triathlete and just before the Berlin marathon asked him to carry the scientific small pouch for her. The pouch apparently looked nothing like the actual marathon timing chip and the triathlete obliged. He then ran and finished the marathon in a very respectable time of 2:42:21.

After the race as he looked through the Berlin marathon results, he noticed that a female racer apparently had run step for step with him and seemingly had hit all the timing mats at the same time. Not having remembered any female runner near him he became suspicious and reported the incident to the race organizers.

The whole scheme fell apart and Metzler-Mennenga admitted the cheating effort. She has now been scratched from the Berlin marathon results and is banned from racing there again. Her federation also banned her from participating in any international competitions. After this revelation it also came to light that she had used a ghost runner in the 2006 Frankfurt and the 2006 Hamburg marathons.