The organizers of the Beijing half marathon have said they are working to clarify the images, described as "embarrassing" , in which three African runners appear to slow down close to the finish line to allow Chinese star He Jie to win .
The photos and videos of the race, held on Sunday 14 April, show the Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, the Ethiopian Dejene Hailu and the home runner He a few tens of meters from the finish line : the three African runners group up, slowing down by on purpose, with one of them even extending his arm outwards as if to signal the other two to stay behind and allow He to overtake and cross the finish line with just one second of advantage: 1:03:44 against 1:03:45 of the seconds. The four athletes, for the record, have the same Chinese shoe company as their sponsor .
The Beijing Sports Bureau and the event organizer, the Beijing Sports Competition Management and International Exchange Center, said that investigations into the matter have been launched and that the results will be released soon. Meanwhile He, a marathon gold medalist at the 2023 Asian Games, said he had "never participated in a half marathon before, so this time I wanted to set a personal record", adding that he regarded the event as " a training session in view of the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, which will be held from 26 July to 11 August.
“I hope to showcase China's speed in Paris and show it to the world,” he added.
(Unioneonline/vl)
