The New York City Marathon is one of the most popular road races in the world. This year’s edition had more than 55,000 participants running across the five boroughs, with more than 2 million spectators and 10,000 volunteers who contribute to the best possible running.

As a result, it was the greatest marathon of all time. It was a life-changing experience for everyone who participated. But not for positive reasons for everyone.

One person, influencer Matt Choi, was erased from the results of the 2024 New York City Marathon. Originally from Austin, Texas, he completed the race in 2:57:15 but has since been disqualified.

Most of the time on the course, he was followed by two people on electric bikes who were filming his ride.

The New York Road Runners, which organizes the New York City Marathon and other events in the region, released a statement saying Choi had been removed from the results and banned from participating in any of their sanctioned races.

“After review and due to violations of the World Athletics Rules, New York Road Runners Code of Conduct and Competition Rules, NYRR has disqualified Matt Choi from the 2024 TCS New York Marathon and removed him from the results. He has been banned from any future NYRR races,” reads the statement released on November 4, 2024 via Sarah Lorge Butler World of runners.

The statement added that Choi, 29, “ran with the help of two unauthorized people riding the course on electric bikes, obstructing the runners.”

Many people were unhappy with him after the online race ended. Reddit And Let’s run There were several threads from users who were not thrilled with the presence of e-bikes on the course, which sometimes made navigation difficult for other riders.

Choi has a large following on social media. Her Instagram account has over 405k followers and her TikTok is even higher with over 465k followers. He is known for running shirtless and with a backward baseball cap.

People who commented on Instagram made no secret of their displeasure with what he did.

“The lack of respect for other riders is disgusting,” one post read. “Keep your “film crew” off the course.

A former footballer, this is not the first time that the running influencer has found himself in a delicate situation. Last year, while running the Houston Marathon, he did so wearing someone else’s bib.

Although some races allow for trades, Houston is not one of them. Choi apologized after the accident occurred.

He is a talented runner, recording an average time of 6:46 at the New York City Marathon on November 3. Last May, he finished the Brooklyn Half Marathon in 1:24:26, which was an impressive pace of 6:27.