The organisers of a women’s running race in Spain came under fire last week after dolling up some very questionable prizes.
The winner of the race was awarded a food processor to take home, while runners up were handed 0% fat products.
Fielding accusations of sexism, The 7 kilometre Carrera de la Mujer women’s race issued a statement on Twitter saying it hadn’t considered that the kitchen appliance would have sexist implications.
“We apologize but we consider this a product with no sexist character and ideal for any athlete who wants to improve their nutritional habits,” the statement said. “We regret if any woman felt offended.”
Promising to “take measures” to avoid similar incidents in the future, the organisers left their mea culpa at that.
Serbian national Ivana Zagorac won the race in 24 minutes, 7 seconds on Sunday in the amateur race which saw 32,000 women partake. Coinciding with Spain’s Mother’s Day the race was promoted to support domestic violence and cancer survivors and will subsequently be held in other Spanish cities.
Ángela Rodríguez Pam, Spain’s secretary of state for equality, was largely behind the food processor furore, when she tweeted a sarcastic line about the prizes.
“If you win: housewife and if not at least you’ll lose weight,” Rodríguez Pam tweeted.
The race has come under fire for featuring T-shirts with the slogan: “Today, the girls win!”