Rosie Ruiz was a Cuban-American woman who gained international notoriety for cheating in the 1980 Boston Marathon. She was declared the winner of the female category, only to be stripped of her title eight days later when it was discovered she had not run the entire course. An investigation revealed she had also qualified for Boston by cheating in the 1979 New York City Marathon, where she took the subway. Her name has since become synonymous with fraudulent achievement and cheating in sports, serving as a prominent cautionary tale.