Aaron Newell was removed from the official race results after being disqualified from the Killington Spartan Sprint. The official ruling from Spartan is “Disqualified due to multiple unsportsmanlike conducts”.
Newell finished the race in first place with a time of 46:32, 19 seconds ahead of Ja Shua Reid in second place.
There was a disruption during the post-race podium ceremony. Newell told The OCR Report he was told by Spartan he would not receive prize money if he did not participate in a post-race podium picture. Newell said, “And then they told me I wouldn’t get prize money if I didn’t show up for awards.” Participating in a photo of the top three finishers and top three male and female finishers is a routine part of post-race activities following a top-three finish.
Newell continued “When I showed up for awards they told me that I wouldn’t get prize money if I didn’t wear the Spartan shirt and the medal and hold the trophy.”
Another podium athlete told The OCR Report about the scene at the podium. “He threw the plaque and then the delta onto the ground from on top of the podium. He was being really difficult about putting on the Spartan shirt and wearing the medal for the photos. He was basically having a tantrum on the podium.”
The podium athlete continued “He made it so awkward they didn’t even have the ladies get back onto the podium for the group picture with the men. Also bad was the fact he threw it down right in front of a group of young kids. What a great example to the future of the sport. He even yelled out something like “Are you ever going to pay us?”
Newell told The OCR Report “They got mad when I gave the trophy and the shirt and the medal to some kids. I just wanted to cheer for people and then go to cheer on the kids race after I was done. Apparently I’m a fucking monster for it.”
