Kenyan Marathoners Who Deliberately Let Chinese Runner Win Lose Their Medals

• Beijing half marathon winner He Jie lost the title after three runners intentionally slowed down to let him win
• Controversy erupted as suspicions of race rigging arose from shared online videos and one runner revealed they were hired
• Organisers issued an apology and disqualified all four runners involved, revoking medals and prize money

Organisers have revoked He Jie’s first place in the Beijing half marathon last weekend after an investigation confirmed that three other runners had slowed down to let him win the race.

According to the Guardian, all four were disqualified and had to return their medals and prize money.

Kenyans marathoners stripped after rigging claims

Online users in China shared the video from Sunday’s race because they suspected it had been rigged.

The footage showed three African runners letting He, China’s top long-distance runner, move ahead of them shortly before they were about to reach the finish line.

The three runners deliberately reduced their pace, according to a statement from a committee set up to investigate the race.

The special committee said that four runners had originally been hired as pacemakers by a sponsor but that the race's main organisers had not known this.

One of the pacemakers didn’t finish the race.

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.

As punishment, Zhong’ao Lupao Sports Management Co, the main organiser, will lose its right to host the Beijing Half Marathon.

Were Kenyan marathoners hired to run?

One of the runners told BBC that they allowed He to win because they had been hired to serve as pacemakers and were not attempting to win the race.

Willy Mnangat questioned why his name was placed on the chest instead of being labelled as a pacemaker.

Immediately following the race, Mnangat explained that he deliberately let Jie win as a result of their longstanding friendship.

“I was not there to compete. My job was to set the pace and help the guy win, but unfortunately, he did not achieve the target," Mnangat said.