>the fastest marathon ever recorded for someone in his age group of 70 to 74
A bit ridiculous then to say people were attacking him for no reason, or his daughter not understanding why anyone cared. Dude was literally claiming to be the world marathon champion in his age group while cheating for years.
>I'm pretty sure only online cheating detectives pay much attention to unusually low marathon times
It would be a world record in his age group if the LA marathon was a proper IAAF course. When people started getting suspicious his name and picture came out on the cover of the Los Angeles Times.
>specially if the person doesn't actively seek to promote themself
maybe next time cheat a few minutes slower then the world record! ridiculous!
I can't say I've seen evidence of that being a massive problem specifically, though people running under other people's names is an issue more generally.
> (events tend to restrict refunds and transfers)
That isn't just to be difficult. It can affect their insurance, there can be genuine health & safety concerns, and is often enforced by running bodies that the events associate with. Not implementing such restrictions could mean the difference between an event being able to run or not.
Transfers are also an admin faf for the organisers, even ignoring that.
> I'm pretty sure only online cheating detectives pay much attention
I would suggest that this story is a reason to reconsider how sure you are about that?
If nothing else, consider that it being important enough for someone to cheat suggests it is important enough that other people don't want their achievements to be diminished by cheaters.
There are many things in life that only matter to a minority of people, that doesn't mean it is right for someone to stomp over that something for some perverse sense of self-satisfaction. While the trollish mob bullying is going too far by a massive margin, it is not wrong for people to care when someone cheats.