The following is a press release from the AMA:
American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has announced that 23 members of the U.S. team to the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) will receive finishers medals they were denied by organizers of the event, which was held in Poland in September.
The decision to award the medals follows a successful appeal by the AMA to an International Disciplinary Court of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), international sanctioning body for motorcycle competition.
The American riders were among many Class II and Class III competitors — nearly two-thirds of all ISDE participants — who chose not to ride the motocross course on the event’s final day because the track’s dusty conditions were judged by riders and team officials to be unsafe. Requests from Team USA and others to cancel the motocross event for safety reasons were denied. Competitors first were informed that failing to ride the final moto would carry a penalty of one minute for each lap not ridden; later, it was announced that medals would not be awarded to riders who did not finish the course.
The Disciplinary Court sided with the AMA, overturning the decision by organizers to withhold the medals and eliminating any time penalties for failing to ride the motocross test. The court noted that “an unusual accumulation of adverse circumstances” was the responsibility of the organizer, and therefore the U.S. team should be awarded their medals, and be included in the final results.
