His victory in the stadion at the XCVI Olympic Games, in 396 BC, was contested by the second-place finisher, Leon of Ambracia, who questioned the impartiality of the judges.

At the end of the appeal procedure initiated by Leon, the two judges who had decided in favor of Eupolemos were fined, but the victory remained his.

The month of compulsory training in Olympia prior to the Games, supervised by the Hellanodikai, was also intended to enable them to distinguish between the athletes.

[9] This verdict by the council was surprising,[15] but it is highly probable that they were unable to reverse a decision by the Hellanodikai, primarily for religious reasons, since the winners were considered to have been chosen by the gods.

It's also possible that they favored their compatriot, either consciously or unconsciously: knowing Eupolemos better than the foreign riders, they might have believed, in good faith, that he would come in first.

Finally, there's one last possibility: as the Hellanodikai were chosen by lot from among the citizens of Elis, the referees of the XCVI Games footrace may have been incompetent.