Disqualification of Organizer and Accountability of Staff Implemented
All Prize Money from 4 Athletes to Be Recovered
Chinese authorities have confirmed that cheating actually occurred at the Beijing Half Marathon, which was embroiled in a match-fixing controversy. The authorities decided to cancel the records of the winners.
On the 14th, at the half marathon held in Beijing, China, an Ethiopian athlete is seen making a gesture as if to hold back other runners while looking at Chinese runner He Jie (left), about one minute before the finish line. [Image source=Weibo capture]
On the 19th, the 2024 Beijing Half Marathon Organizing Committee announced the results of an investigation into the match-fixing allegations surrounding the event held in Beijing on the 14th.
The committee explained, "Among the four foreign runners who participated as pacemakers, one dropped out midway, but the other three intentionally slowed down with 2 km remaining after running ahead. As a result, China's He Jie won first place with a time of 1 hour 3 minutes and 44 seconds."
The committee added, "According to regulations, specially invited athletes and pacemakers must apply to participate in the race and receive approval from the organizers. During the event, the organizers invited 28 domestic and international athletes to the competition, but did not separately designate pacemakers and allowed them to participate as invited athletes."
The committee decided to cancel the records of four athletes, including He Jie and three others who tied for second place, and to retrieve their medals and prize money. They also decided to revoke the qualifications of the event organizers, including the Beijing Sports Competition Management International Exchange Center and Zhongao Sports Management Co., Ltd., and to hold the responsible parties legally accountable. The committee expressed "deep responsibility" and apologized, emphasizing that "we will take this incident as a lesson to promote sportsmanship and strive to raise the level of the competition."
On the 14th, at the half marathon held in Beijing, China, an Ethiopian athlete appeared to gesture to other runners to slow down and signaled to He Jie, a Chinese athlete, to go ahead first. [Image source=Ex (X, formerly Twitter) capture]
Earlier footage from the event showed Kenyan runners Robert Keter and Willy Nganga, and Ethiopian Dejene Bikila, who were running ahead of He Jie, the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist, slowing down and looking back at He Jie just before the finish line. One of the runners even gestured to He Jie as if to tell him to go ahead, while others made gestures as if to block other runners from advancing. Ultimately, the three African runners finished exactly one second behind He Jie, tying for second place, sparking controversy that they had yielded to the Chinese runner.
Kenyan runner Nganga, who tied for second place, denied the allegations, saying, "He Jie won because he is a friend," and "I was not instructed to do so, nor did I receive any financial compensation."
However, two days later in an interview with BBC Sport, he effectively admitted to match-fixing, stating, "The four runners had a contract to help He Jie break the Chinese half marathon record of 1 hour 2 minutes and 33 seconds," and "My role was to control the pace and help him win, but unfortunately, we did not achieve the goal of breaking the national record."
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