Boston Marathon Winner Still Waiting on $100K Prize from 2014

When Buzunesh Deba finished second at the 2014 Boston Marathon, she narrowly missed out on the $100,000 prize money, which instead went to winner Rita Jeptoo. But two years later, Jeptoo was found to have used performance-enhancing drugs and was ultimately disqualified and stripped of her title. Deba was belatedly crowned the true winner — but says she’s still waiting on her $100,000 payday. 

“I thought everything is to change after I hear the news … but nothing,” Deba, who is based in the Bronx but runs for Ethiopia, recently told CBS New York.

Deba, now 36, told the outlet that her second place finish led to the loss of her sponsorship deal with Nike. 

“She took my chance. I lose so many things,” she said.

Deba said she’s waiting on the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.), which puts on the Boston Marathon, to award her the $100,000 and the race trophy. 

The B.A.A. tells PEOPLE in a statement that they cannot comment on the situation while it is still “ongoing,” but they are working on collecting the money from Jeptoo, who has since been banned from the sport.

“The Boston Athletic Association stands for clean sport and fair competition. Following the ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the B.A.A. pursued reclaiming winnings from Rita Jeptoo. As the matter is still ongoing, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

In the meantime, Deba, now a mom of two, tells the Wall Street Journal that she’s started training again, and hopes to tackle Boston once the B.A.A. awards her the missing prize money.

“I want to win again, Boston Marathon,” she said. “It’s a big race.”