Chinese Marathon Controversy: African Runners’ Gesture Sparks Debate

Chinese spectators were confused when they saw footage of the race that seemed to show three African runners slowing down to allow home athlete He Jie to finish first.

TFD – Explore the debate sparked by a gesture from African runners during a Chinese marathon, raising questions about sportsmanship and fairness in long-distance running.

Hong Kong — The Beijing Half Marathon organizers announced on Monday that they were looking into a video that seemed to show three African competitors slowing down close to the finish line in order for a Chinese competitor to win.

Alongside the three African racers, He Jie, a member of China’s marathon squad and the current national record holder for the full marathon, ran the entire 13.1-mile race on Sunday. At least one of the runners seemed to wave him forward as they got closer to the finish line.

As they approached the finish line, a live sports announcer stated, “I can see that the four individuals have great synergy.” “These four stayed together consistently and communicated with each other throughout today’s race.”

His final time was 1:03:44, while the other three competitors, Robert Keter, Willy Mnangat of Kenya, and Dejene Hailu Bikila of Ethiopia, tied for second place at 1:03:45.

Mnangat said to The South China Morning Post that he gave He the win because he is friends with him and that he was not asked to or paid anything in return.

Keter and Bikila were not immediately available for comment, and he has not made any public remarks regarding the controversy surrounding the results.

The event received the “utmost attention” from the Beijing Sports Bureau, the municipal authority in charge of sports, which assured NBC News that the findings of its inquiry will be “promptly disclosed to the public.”

The scenario is “extremely odd,” according to Mark Dreyer, author of “Sporting Superpower: An Insider’s View on China’s Quest to Be the Best.”

In a post on X, he wrote, “It’s very common for African professional runners to compete in top provincial races around China— but highly unusual that they would let a Chinese runner win so obviously.”

The video, which went viral online, perplexed a few Chinese viewers.

What significance does a first place hold when three African runners clearly eased up and allowed He Jie to take it?” A sports blogger shared content on Weibo, a well-known social media network in China.

Another comment said, “It would be more entertaining if the three people carried a sedan to send He Jie to the finish line.”

Aiming for the summer Olympics in Paris, this 25-year-old achieved a national record last month in Wuxi, China, with a time of 2:06:57. The Global Times, a nationalist newspaper supported by the Chinese government, claims that this was his first half marathon.

“I wasn’t in my finest competitive state because I had recently done the Wuxi Marathon. He was reported in the media as saying, “I think my performance would have been better if I had been in the same condition as during the Wuxi race.”

Hu Xijin, a nationalist public pundit and former Global Times editor-in-chief, stated that he believed the public’s skepticism regarding He’s victory was “valid.”

In a Weibo post, he stated, “People are questioning whether this goes against the true spirit of sports.” “This incident has already affected more than just the half marathon,”

In China, long-distance running is becoming more and more of a popular activity, especially among the middle class, yet there have been problems with cheating. The Shenzhen Half Marathon’s organizers said in 2018 that 258 competitors had been found to have cheated, notably by using bogus bibs and cutting corners.