Videos offers proof that disqualified Julie Miller cut course at Ironman Canada

The New York Times released two videos courtesy of FinisherPix this morning offering proof that disqualified triathlete Julie Miller did indeed cut the course at Ironman Canada last summer.

Miller was disqualified from the race and stripped of her first place age-group win and Kona qualification spot after officials determined it was “impossible for her to complete the course as quickly as she claimed.”

Questions were initially brought up about Millers results at Ironman Canada, where, in both the 2013 and 2015 races Miller didn’t have any run splits and her run time had to be manually entered. According to a source involved in the 2015 event Miller stated that her chip had fallen off during her bike to run transition. (According to officials at Sportstats, the timing company that timed both the Ironman Canada events, about 30 to 40 pounds of force is required to take a chip off its strap. Photos of Miller competing in the run show a timing chip strap on her leg, which would imply that the chip had either malfunctioned or had fallen off somehow.)

After The New York Times published an article on Miller’s disqualification, race photo company FinisherPix contacted them with videos they produced on race day. Their six video cameras, which were positioned along the entire course, filmed athletes’ races from start to finish. They had one camera at the run start line, four at the finish and one on the run course that athletes would have had to pass twice.

According to The NYT, “The first camera was positioned at the start of the marathon, after athletes had finished cycling and were embarking on the next phase of the race. It shows Miller beginning her run exactly eight minutes behind Susanne Davis, a world-class triathlete who went on to win their age group, women ages 40 to 44, after Miller was disqualified. (Miller is identifiable by her bright knee-length compression socks.)”

There is also proof in the second video. “The second camera was positioned 3.8 miles into the two-lap course. Athletes were required to pass that point twice to complete the run, but the camera recorded Miller passing it only once — 9 minutes 15 seconds before Davis passed it on her second lap.”

Videos can be viewed in The New York Times’ story here.