An unusual incident occurred during Beijing’s half-marathon in April, which saw several competitors deliberately slow down towards the finish line, allowing the Chinese national, He Jie, to win the race. Immediately, rumors that the race was fixed began to circulate online.
Footage was later shared of the final portion of the race, per The Guardian, which appears to show Ethiopia’s Dejene Hailu Bikila and Kenya’s Willy Mnagat and Rober Keter slowing down during the last 100 meters and encouraging Jie to overtake them and claim victory.
While viewers considered at the time, new details have emerged that explain why the three African runners can be seen easing off at the end of the race. Mnagat later spoke out about the accusations during an interview with BBC Sport, claiming that he, Keter, and Bikila weren’t there to compete. Instead, the runners were running as pacemakers for Jie, who himself is China’s national champion in the full marathon.
During the interview with BBC Sport, Mnangat said. “It was not a competitive race for me.”When the Kenyan was initially asked what had happened directly after the race, Mnagat claimed he had let the Chinese Jie win “because he is my friend.” “He comes to Kenya and I was [pacing for him] in the Wuxi Marathon, so he is my friend, OK,” per The South China Morning Post.
“I don’t know why they put my name on my bib/chest number instead of labeling it as a pacemaker,” Mnangat told the BBC. “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.”
The Kenyan went on to explain that he and four other runners were contracted to help Jie, who was planning to try to break China’s half-marathon record of 1.02.33. Yet one of the pacemakers didn’t finish in the end. “I was not there to compete,” said Mnangat. It was not a competitive race for me.”
While Mnangat has expressed on several occasions the race was not fixed in any manner, the Beijing Sports Bureau has revealed they will be performing an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the end of the race. They claimed that when it’s finished, the results will be “promptly disclosed to the public.”
In a statement, World Athletics said: “We are aware of the footage circulating online from the Beijing half marathon this weekend and understand an investigation is currently being conducted by the relevant local authorities. The integrity of our sport is the highest priority at World Athletics; while this investigation is ongoing, we are unable to provide further comments.”
Chinese citizens took to Weibo, a popular social media platform, to share their thoughts on the race, with one writing, “This is no doubt the most embarrassing title of He Jie’s career,” which received over 1,000 likes. Another post wrote: “With such a major organiser and such a well-known event, this really pushes sportsmanship to the ground in shame.”
