Organizers canceled He Jie’s first place finish at the Beijing Half Marathon, which took place on April 14, after an investigation confirmed that three other runners slowed down to allow him to win the race.
All four runners were disqualified and had to return their medals and prize money.
Chinese netizens shared the video of the final moments of the race, suspecting it was rigged. The video showed three African runners letting He, China’s best long-distance runner, pull ahead of them just before the finish line.
The three riders deliberately reduced their speed, according to the committee set up to investigate the race.
The special committee said four runners were originally entered as pacemakers by a sponsor, but the race’s main organizers were not aware of this. One of the pace leaders did not finish the race.
The statement did not say whether the race was rigged, but it regretted it.
“We deeply and sincerely apologize to the entire world and all stakeholders in the community for not detecting and correcting the mistakes made during this race in time,” the committee said. Zhong’ao Lupao Sports Management Co, the main organizer, was sanctioned by losing the right to host the Beijing Half Marathon.
One of the runners declared that BBC Sport Africa that they had let Han win because they had been hired to serve as pacemakers and were not competing to win the race.
“I wasn’t there to compete,” said Kenya’s Willy Mnangat BBC. “My job was to set the pace and help the guy win, but unfortunately he didn’t reach the goal, which was to break the national record.
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