Nikki Butterfield has all but been cleared to participate in next Monday’s Appleby Bermuda Half Marathon.

Doubts had been raised as to whether the wife of Tyler Butterfield, the defending men’s champion, was eligible to compete.

But yesterday, Gina Tucker, the Bermuda Half Marathon Race Committee chairperson, strongly suggested that the past ITU Under-23 World Champion and Abu Dhabi International Triathlon winner will be allowed to compete after all.

“It would, by all accounts, appear that she is eligible to run in the Derby based on she is a spouse of a Bermudian and deemed to be domiciled in Bermuda,” she said. “I do not believe the committee has a choice but to do the right thing and allow Mrs Butterfield to participate.”

The race committee has yet to officially confirm whether the Australian Long Course Champion can compete.

The mother of two had been granted permission to register and take part in the 13.1 mile race from Somerset to Bernard’s Park.

But her eligibility came into question upon further scrutiny, thus throwing her plans of competing alongside of her husband, who won a maiden May 24 title last year, in jeopardy.

Race rules stipulate that all “entrants must have resided in Bermuda six months prior to race day to be eligible for prizes and to be defined as a local resident”.

The Butterfields are presently in Bermuda but live in Boulder, Colorado. They were also on Island last November, two months before Nikki gave birth to the couple’s second child, Walker.

Tucker added: “She is deemed to be domiciled in Bermuda and is only overseas because they are only allowed in the US for six months at a time. So they do five months, spend a month in Bermuda, and then go back.”