Should Cheruiyot Sue?

No, he should not, and will not sue.

Stupid sue-happy Americans.

I don't like abusing the law..... but to cover the finish line area with slick paint, thin carpet, etc.. is just ignorant. Far as the pain/suffering, that's normally a BS charge. But he was denied a great celebratory and post-race memory for the rest of his life, and had it replaced with trauma, due to the ignorance. You don't get those chances too often, if at all.

He definitely should have sued if he was denied victory. Even if he fell backwards and his feet didnt cross the line due to NO FAULT of his. They are lucky that he fell forward and across the line.

However in this case, an apology from the race officals and a promise never to use that surface material ever again should suffice, if no permanent damage to his running has occured.

As long as he is ok, I don't think he should sue, but if he is hurt, thats a different story. I don't think he should get millions, but certainly enough to cover medical bills.

I'm sure the organizors will make it up to him before he has a chance to worry about suing.

If he sues, you think he could kiss his appearance fee good by next year.

OTOH if Chicago doesn't step forward to pony up then they can forget about that agent sending any runners their way and Chicago's rep would take a big hit with fast runners especially Kenyans

Let's hope that Chicago does the right thing and Cheruiyot is never faced with the possibility of filing suit

wejo wrote:

If he sues, you think he could kiss his appearance fee good by next year.

That'd just make it easier to sue again, being that he's defending champion. Not only that, but it'd turn into bad publicity regarding how they treat their athletes.

My thoughts are that it is unfortunate and now easy to look back and call it ignorant; however, without seeing the finish line up close, it would be difficult to say it was negligent. As things sometime go, S-t happens and it really cannot be pinned on any person unless there was thought initially this situation could have potentially caused a hazard, yet still made the choice to take the risk and use this. It seems quite unlikely anyone thought it might pose a hazard; but that is just a guess.

ttc wrote:

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I don't like abusing the law..... but to cover the finish line area with slick paint, thin carpet, etc.. is just ignorant. Far as the pain/suffering, that's normally a BS charge. But he was denied a great celebratory and post-race memory for the rest of his life, and had it replaced with trauma, due to the ignorance. You don't get those chances too often, if at all.

word. chicago needs to make a big gesture in my opinion. not sure what exactly, but they really messed up badly and should make it clear that they understand and are VERY sorry.

wejo--it's "good bye" not "good by", right? haha. sorry...just being an ass after all the crap about front page spelling the other day.

You know, I don't really advocate suing at the drop of a hat, but what if his injury had been severe and he was never able to run again? On one hand, he's is running marathons and that's always going to be a potentially dangerous activity. On the other hand, what if what the organizers did was blatantly stupid and hazardous to the runners?

In real life it's almost always a grey area. I guess it would depend on the actual logo-thing that he slipped on. How hazardous was it? No of us really know anything about that. Could have been the safest thing in the world to run over and Cheruiyot just had a freak accident. None of us can say definitely.

Hopefully Robert will have no lingering problems and it won't be an issue. If he's fine I can't imagine him suing. It would probably hurt his future guaranteed money to have a lawsuit against the Chicago Marathon in the legal system. Not saying that would be right, but it would.

And to the guy who said the slip cost him the extra fame/recognition because he missed out on the post race interviews...please. He will be waaaaaay more well known because of the fall.

Sure I've seen other marathons putting down similar stuff near the finish on the course like in Berlin. However there'd been moisture on the course and so the finish line crew really should have checked to see how that effected the traction on anything they put on the ground along the course. The fact that they tore it up so quickly says that they realized it was wrong to have it there. I understand human error but how long has this outfit been around? Are they putting on a major marathon or a 5k funrun?

What about the waiver you sign on the registration saying you assume the risk of injury and won't hold those involved with the race responsible?

They had warning signs up, it was his fault.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/asubryan/detail?.dir=34f2scd&.dnm=df2cscd.jpg&.src=ph

Colleen, if it can be proven that the race organizers were egregiously negligent and did not prove a safe finishing area, he definitely could sue. The waiver covers a lot, but it does not cover gross negligence.

fetet wrote:

They had warning signs up, it was his fault.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/asubryan/detail?.dir=34f2scd&.dnm=df2cscd.jpg&.src=ph

Actually he didn't slip on the timing mat, he slipped on the paint on the road. There was a large Chicago Marathon Decal right before the mat. It especially sucks b/c if he hadn't slowed down to celebrate he would have been fine. The braking motion he did in his last few steps caused him to fall backwards.

I think those signs were for people who weren't racing...you have to cross the timing mat to get your chip registered.

Peter Gibbons wrote:

fetet wrote:

They had warning signs up, it was his fault.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/asubryan/detail?.dir=34f2scd&.dnm=df2cscd.jpg&.src=ph

Actually he didn't slip on the timing mat, he slipped on the paint on the road. There was a large Chicago Marathon Decal right before the mat. It especially sucks b/c if he hadn't slowed down to celebrate he would have been fine. The braking motion he did in his last few steps caused him to fall backwards.

I think those signs were for people who weren't racing...you have to cross the timing mat to get your chip registered.

Okay, here ya go.

Ambulance Chaser wrote:

Just playing devil's advocate here: somebody should pay up, whether it be the organizers or the timing company.

Who is the negligent party?

He should sue because of the "medical attention" received.

I don't think they messed that up at all. If they thought he had broken a vertebrae then he should have been immobilized, but he was obviously moving around after the fall. It's not like the onsite people could do anything for a brain hemorrhage on the scene. All they could do is take him to the hospital...which they did.

It's not like they forced him to smile for some pictures with the race sponsors and get interviewed after the race.