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Kenyan says he let China’s He Jie win Beijing Half Marathon ‘because he is my friend’
Beijing Half Marathon organisers strip winner He Jie and overseas athletes of medals, prizes after controversial finish
- Chinese runner He won after Kenyans Willy Mnangat and Robert Keter, plus Ethiopia’s Dejene Hailu Bikila, moved aside within sight of the finish line
- Mnangat initially told the Post he let the Asian Games champion win ‘because he is my friend’, but later claimed he had been hired as a pacer
The organisers of last weekend’s Beijing Half Marathon have stripped winner He Jie and three other athletes of their medals and prize money following the race’s controversial ending.
Several companies involved in the running and promotion of the event have also been punished, losing contracts for future editions of the race, officials said in a statement on Friday.
The committee has been investigating Sunday’s incident ever since video emerged showing Kenyan athletes Willy Mnangat and Robert Keter, plus Ethiopia’s Dejene Hailu Bikila, moving aside within sight of the finish line to let He win.
He broke the tape in a time of one hour, three minutes and 44 seconds, a second ahead of Bikila, Keter and Mnangat.
Mnangat initially said he let the Chinese athlete overtake “because he is my friend”, but later claimed to have been hired as a pacer, even though he was not wearing anything identifying him as one.
“I was not there to compete,” Mnangat said. “My job was to set the pace and help the guy win but unfortunately he did not achieve the target, which was to break the national record.”
But the official race result listed Bikila, Keter and Mnangat in second, third and fourth, respectively. All three were listed as athletes, and the committee said pacers would not have been allowed to take part as specially invited athletes without organisers’ approval.
The organising committee said the three African runners “actively slowed down in the last two kilometres and as a result He Jie won the men’s championship”.
All trophies, medals and bonuses would be withdrawn and the athletes reported to the Chinese Athletics Association, it said.
The statement did not acknowledge whether the race was rigged, but it did issue an apology.
“We deeply and sincerely apologise to the world and to every part of society, that we did not discover and correct the mistakes in time at this race,” the committee said.
The race operator, the Zhongao Lupao Beijing Sports Management company, would also be disqualified from hosting and operating the Beijing half marathon, the committee added.
The management company said its partner and race sponsor Xiamen Xtep Investment, a unit of Hong Kong-listed Xtep International Holdings, failed to note the relevant pacer information, which led to the organising committee not being informed.
Xtep, which lists He as a contracted spokesman, would be “cancelled as a partner of the competition, instructed to apologise to the public, and required to severely deal with the relevant responsible persons”, officials said.
On Friday, the sportswear company, issued a comprehensive apology and said staff had made a mistake in the registration process and did not identify the pacers.
“We bear significant responsibility for this incident and fully accept the penalties imposed by the organising committee,” the firm said. “We are committed to serious introspection and rigorous evaluation, and will take stringent measures against all personnel involved.
“We will deeply reflect on this incident and draw valuable lessons from it, undertake a comprehensive review of all procedures and systems related to race operations, and make timely corrections to ensure that such incidents do not occur again in the future.”
Days after Sunday’s incident, footage resurfaced of the 2019 race that showed a finish with striking similarities, sparking questions over whether any result could be trusted.
And the Chinese Athletics Association issued a statement earlier this week vowing to make improvements to the sport in the country.
Sunday’s incident received significant attention on Chinese social media site Weibo, with some users criticising what they saw as an “embarrassing” result.
“This will certainly be the most embarrassing championship in He Jie’s career,” one wrote.
“With such a major organiser and such a well-known event, this really pushes sportsmanship to the ground in shame,” the post said.
