Miami New Times managing editor Tim Elfrink has won the George Polk Award in sports reporting for his series on the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic in Coral Gables.
The award, established by Long Island University, is one of the nation's most prestigious. Winners this year include the New York Times, the Washington Post, and legendary writer Pete Hamill. Elfrink's series is also a finalist for the Goldsmith Award from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
See also: New Times Biogenesis Series Finalist for Harvard's Goldsmith Award
Here is the full Long Island University news release about Elfrink's series:
Tim Elfrink of the Miami New Times will receive the George Polk Award for Sports Reporting for revealing that Biogenesis, an anti-aging clinic in Coral Gables, supplied some of baseball's biggest stars with performance-enhancing drugs. Elfrink deciphered and traced records from a disgruntled investor to customers like "Cacique" and "El Mostro" (code names for sluggers Alex Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera) in a three-month investigation. His explosive stories led to the suspension of 13 players, created a sea change in how baseball owners and players approach drug use and explained how Florida Governor Rick Scott's laissez-faire approach to regulation allowed clinics like Biogenesis to operate with little or no oversight.
And some background on the award::
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are conferred annually to honor special achievement in journalism. The awards, which place a premium on investigative and enterprise reporting that gains attention and achieves results, were established in 1949 by LIU to commemorate George Polk, a CBS correspondent murdered in 1948 while covering the Greek civil war.
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