He Jie, China’s top long-distance runner, was stripped of his first-place medal from the Mengniu Beijing Half Marathon on Friday after an investigation concluded that three other runners from Africa had purposely slowed down to let him pass.
Organizers announced the decision after footage from the race went viral over the weekend. Video evidence from the final moments of the race showed He trailing behind Kenya’s Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat and Ethiopia’s Dejene Hailu.
Mnangat told BBC Sport Africa that the group had not been not running competitively, but rather as pacemakers for He.
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An investigation into the incident found that four runners had, in fact, been invited by a race sponsor to serve only as pacemakers, but the main organizers were unaware of this. The fourth had dropped out before completing the race.
“We deeply and sincerely apologize to the world and to every part of society, that we did not discover and correct the mistakes in time at this race,” the statement read.
All four runners, including He, were disqualified and forced to return their medals and award money.
Zhong’ao Lupao Sports Management Co, the main organizer, also lost its right to host the event as a result.
He won the Asian Games men’s marathon last year and holds the Chinese national record in the event after finishing the Wuxi Marathon with a time of two hours, six minutes and 47 seconds. He finished last weekend’s race with a time of one hour, three minutes, 44 seconds.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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