Organizers of the Beijing half marathon said Monday they were investigating after footage widely shared online appeared to show three African runners deliberately allowing China’s He Jie to win.
Video clips from Sunday’s race showed Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, Ethiopian Dejene Hailu and local runner He approaching the finish.
The three African runners can be seen pointing towards the finish line and seemingly waving it ahead, while appearing to slow down.
He, a gold medalist in the 2023 Asian Games marathon, won by one second.
The four had stayed together throughout just over 13 miles, a broadcaster noted.
“We are investigating and will announce the results to the public as soon as they are available,” a person from the Beijing Sports Bureau, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP.
The event’s organizer, the Beijing Sports Competition Management and International Exchange Center, also said an investigation had been launched.
The incident received significant attention on Chinese social media site Weibo, with some users criticizing what they saw as an “embarrassing” outcome.
“This will definitely be the most embarrassing championship of He Jie’s career,” one wrote.
“With such a major organizer and such a well-known event, this really drives the spirit of sportsmanship to the ground, to shame,” the post added.
Long-distance running has seen a boom in recent years among China’s middle class, but there have been many cases of cheating and poor organization.
In 2018, at a half marathon in the southern city of Shenzhen, 258 runners cheated, many of whom took shortcuts.
Traffic cameras filmed them running through the trees to join another part of the race.
In 2019, a woman was filmed riding a green rental bike during the Xuzhou International Marathon in eastern China.
Race officials ordered him to get off the bike and then get back on.
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