On the surface, competing as a runner seems straight forward: the winner of a race is the fastest person from point A to point B, and to progress, you just have to be a better runner than everyone else. Right?

Turns out, it’s not so simple. Fairness is a surprisingly complicated concept.

On this episode we bring you the story of two athletes — a “ghost runner” from the U.K. and a phenom from Uganda — and we explore how rules meant to ensure fairness can end up excluding some of the best athletes from competitions.

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