The top three runners in Beijing's half marathon were stripped of their medals, event organizers said Friday, following a probe into the race's finish that saw China's He Jie win.
"Today, the 2024 Beijing Half Marathon Organizing Committee issued a decision on the investigation and handling of the men's race results," a CCTV report said, adding, "The trophies, medals and bonuses will be recovered."
Beijing authorities had been investigating Sunday's Beijing half-marathon after footage shared online showed three African runners appearing to slow down near the finish line to allow China's He Jie to overtake them and win.
He won in a time of 1:03:44, a second ahead of Ethiopian Dejene Hailu Bikila and Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, who all tied for second place.
Videos, which Reuters was attempting to verify, showed the three African runners waving He, who was slightly behind them, in front and gesturing toward the finish line.
All four had run together for the entire race of just over 13 miles.
He is a member of China's marathon team and the national marathon record holder.
The event's organizer, the Beijing Sports Competition Management and International Exchange Center, referred a Reuters inquiry to the half-marathon's organizing committee.
The state-controlled Global Times newspaper said He's performance "drew skepticism as the three African runners seemed to deliberately slow down for He to catch up." But many comments on social media were scathing, calling the race "embarrassing" or a "performance."
Distance running is increasingly popular in China, but races have a checkered history of cheating and poor organization. In Shenzhen's 2018 half-marathon, 258 participants were caught cheating. Most had taken shortcuts, while some wore fake bibs, and others were impostors.
