Did Jennifer Figge cheat?
Rosie Ruiz has resurfaced, not in her own self though, but through Jennifer Figge. Fifty-six year old Figge made headlines by swimming across the Atlantic being the first American woman to do so. But just as Rosie Ruiz’s false victory in the 1980 Boston Marathon was suspected, Figge’s feat too is under the scanner on allegations of concocting the feat.
The resident of Aspen, Jennifer Figge, had apparently swum 2,100 miles in 24 days, from the Cape Verde Islands from the African coast to Trinidad. But she did not swim through the entire days initially. But, later on she swam less than 8 hours every day, as sources revealed. So, it would be impossible to swim across the distance within the time frame. This could remind one of the Rosie Ruiz scandals.
Rosie Ruiz, a New Yorker in her early twenties, came first in the Boston Marathon in a record time for a female runner in 2 hours 31 minutes and 56 seconds. But when she climbed the winner’s podium, Rosie Ruiz looked sweat-free and not as tired as she should have, after running all that distance, the 26.2 mile, so fast. Investigations later revealed that Rosie Ruiz was a cheat, she had joined the race in the last half a mile or so. She was stripped off her title which was eventually awarded to the real winner, Jacqueline Gareau. The Rosie Ruiz scandal still remains one of the darkest histories in the international athletics.