China’s He Jie loses victory in Beijing half marathon after investigation

DAcclaimed Chinese athlete He Jie was stripped of his victory in the Beijing half marathon on Friday after an investigation found that the three African runners who competed alongside him had “actively slowed down”To let him cross the finish line first during the race on Sunday, April 14th.

He won the 21 km. race in the capital with a time of 1 hour. 3 minutes. 44 seconds — 107 seconds shy of the men’s half marathon national record. He was a second ahead of Kenyan runners Willy Mnangat and Robert Keter, and Ethiopian athlete Dejene Hailu Bikila, who was marking him.

But the win, which had clips circulating online, came under scrutiny after being heavily scrutinized for being rigged, with the local media even describing it as damaging to the reputation of Chinese marathons.

Mnangat previously told BBC that he was his friend and that the trio of African runners were not competing and were helping him break the national record as trailblazers. But the committee said the trailblazers would not have been allowed to participate as specially invited athletes without approval from organizers.

The committee decided that He and the trio’s trophies, medals and bonuses will all be recovered. The four athletes will also be reported to the Chinese Athletics Association, the committee added.

Zhongao Lupao Beijing Sports Management, the race’s main organizer, issued an apology, saying its partner Xiamen Xtep Investment did not take note of the pacemakers – and therefore the organizing committee was not informed. The company will be disqualified from hosting and operating the Beijing Half Marathon.

The committee added that Xtep will be terminated as a partner of the event, instructed to apologize to the public and will be required to deal with those responsible for the accident. In its apology on Friday, Xtep said: “We bear great responsibility for this and fully accept the penalties imposed by the organizing committee.”
He had already won the gold medal in the men’s marathon at Asian Games postponed from 2023. He too currently holds the national record for the full marathon, after reaching a time of 2 hours. 6 minutes. 57 sec. in Wuxi on March 24. But Chinese sports observer Mark Dreyer previously told TIME that the Beijing half marathon incident “undermines” his other achievements.