A plumber who was shoved aside by Tommy Fury before the finish line of the Great North Run has spoken out, saying the boxer’s behaviour ‘is not on’.
The 26-year-old reality star, who has become notorious for his sprint finishes of late, was one of nearly 60,000 participants in Sunday’s half marathon from Newcastle to South Shields.
As Fury charged for the line in his now-trademark sprint, video clips showed him weaving through crowds before seemingly pushing a man aside on the final bend.
The incident caused uproar on social media, with critics questioning his race etiquette just months after a separate clip of him almost colliding with an elderly woman at a 10k in Cheshire went viral.
The runner involved, plumber Diarmaid Warner, 38, has now spoken out, telling The Sun he had been raising money for muscular dystrophy research when Fury forced his way through.
He explained that as he rounded the final corner, he felt a hand on his shoulder and was shoved aside.
Tommy Fury has been challenged to a race by a fellow runner after footage appeared to show the boxer shoving a competitor out of the way
Video clips showed the 26-year-old weaving through crowds before seemingly pushing a man aside on the final bend
Plumber Diarmaid Warner (left) has spoken out and insisted that Fury’s actions were out of line
‘As you get to the end you think the finish line is straight in front of you,’ Warner said.
‘It’s only at the last few metres you realise you’ve got one more right turn to make. It was as I was going around it that I felt this hand on my shoulder which pushed me to the side for him to run through. I was a bit upset and thought that’s not on – it’s not really race etiquette.’
The father-of-two from Dumbarton later recognised the man who had barged past him. ‘I told my wife, you’ll never guess what – Tommy Fury’s pushed me out of the way,’ he added.
Warner has since issued a light-hearted challenge, saying he would happily take on the former Love Island contestant over a running race. ‘Not a boxing match, unless he has one hand tied behind his back,’ he joked.
Fury has not publicly addressed the latest controversy, but it has added to a growing list of talking points surrounding his forays into endurance sport.
Only last month he was accused of failing to complete a gruelling 100km triathlon in the French Riviera after data appeared to show he did not finish the cycling stage.
Organisers later explained that road closures had forced a number of amateur athletes to abandon the bike leg, although Fury still completed the run before celebrating across the finish line.
The Manchester-born fighter was also ridiculed in January when footage showed him narrowly avoiding a collision with a pensioner as he sprinted to the line in Tatton Park.
Fury is famous for his sprint finishes and he went viral for nearly taking someone out at the end of a 10k in January
The video surfaced a day after Fury had been accused of lying about his 100km triathlon
This time he was one of thousands of runners taking on the Great North Run, a famous 13.1-mile route cheered on by around 200,000 spectators.
The event itself attracted headlines after organisers were forced to apologise for a blunder on finisher’s medals and T-shirts, which mistakenly featured a map of Sunderland’s River Wear instead of Newcastle.
While officials issued a humorous ‘Wear sorry’ statement, Fury’s sprint has ensured the focus remains on his conduct, with Warner insisting there was no excuse for barging through.
‘I started with thousands of people who were slower than me but you just weave your way around them,’ he said. ‘You don’t push them out of the way.’
