NBC 7’s Megan Tevrizian reports on the injuries suffered by marathon athlete Craig Blanchette while he was competing in the 2014 Rock n Roll Marathon in San Diego.
A champion wheelchair athlete was awarded millions of dollars after being injured during the Rock 'n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego in 2014.
Craig Blanchette, a former Olympian and world-record holding wheelchair racer, filed a claim against race organizers after suffering major injuries when a portion of the course was changed the morning of the race, and he wasn't notified.
The downtown San Diego race route was altered near 11th Avenue and B Street, dropping the four lanes course to three in that area. Blanchette was speeding down a hill when he approached a curve in the narrowed course. Blanchette slammed into a parked car.
"I hit the corner at about 40 miles per hour and launched me out of my chair, broke my collarbone, broke three ribs," Blanchette told NBC 7.
A jury awarded Blanchette $4 million this week. Before he went to court, Competitor Group Incorporated, the race organizers, offered him just $30,000 to settle.
“A jury of my peers validated what happened; and that was powerful," Blanchette said.
Blanchette is a former wheelchair Olympian whose competed all over the world. Sadly, because of his injuries, he will no longer be able to compete.
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Blanchette plans to use some of the money he was awarded for children at a wheelchair sports camp in Minnesota.
