Runfluencer Matt Choi DQ’d from Ironman 70.3 after skipping penalty
The infamous running influencer strikes again, this time in the triathlon
Matt Choi/Instagram
Running influencer Matt Choi might have moved from marathons to triathlons, but one thing remains the same: he’s still getting disqualified.
The Austin, Texas, native made his half-Ironman debut at Sunday’s Ironman 70.3 in Galveston, crossing the line in 5:01:52–but was listed as a DQ. The reason: Choi received a two-minute penalty for drafting on the bike, but failed to stop at the penalty tent, instead heading straight to the finish line.
“[My time] should have been 5:03:52,” Choi wrote on Instagram. “I thought the two minutes would be added to my final time, but it wasn’t.”
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“These are some of the learning curves when doing a new sport,” he continued. “I love it because it shows that I’m a beginner with a lot to learn–and [it’s] also a reminder to read the athletes’ manual.”
Previous race-day incidents
Choi’s mistake may be due to inexperience, but it’s the latest in a string of race-day rule violations.
His first offence came in 2023, when he ran the Houston Marathon while wearing somebody else’s bib. A month later, at the Austin Marathon, he brought a two-person camera crew onto the course, where they followed him on e-bikes, weaving through race traffic and cutting off other runners.
Choi repeated the stunt at the 2024 New York City marathon, once again bringing his camera crew on e-bikes onto the course. This time, he was disqualified for illegal assistance and banned from all future NYRR races.
In 2025, at the Marquette Marathon in Michigan, the running influencer allegedly used a videographer on a OneWheel E-board who doubled as a mobile aid station–a clear violation of the race rules. Despite that, Choi used the performance to register for the 2026 Boston Marathon.