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Beijing half marathon organizers investigate Chinese runner's controversial win (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

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Video of the race appeared to show three African runners slowing down to let home athlete He Jie finish first, confusing Chinese viewers.

Organizers of the Beijing Half Marathon said they were investigating Monday after video of the race appeared to show three African runners slowing down near the finish line so that a Chinese athlete could win.

He Jie, a member of China’s marathon team and a national record holder in the full marathon, had run the entire 13.1-mile race on Sunday with the three African runners. As they approached the finish line, at least one of the runners appeared to wave him ahead.

…

The Beijing Sports Bureau, the municipal body in charge of sports, told NBC News that the incident had its “utmost attention” and that the results of its investigation would be “promptly disclosed to the public.”

…

Long-distance running is an increasingly popular sport in China, particularly among the middle class, but cheating has been an issue. In 2018, organizers of the Shenzhen Half Marathon said that 258 participants had been caught cheating, including by wearing fake bibs and taking shortcuts.

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[-] juicy@lemmy.today 33 points 4 months ago

Tangentially, have you read about the 1904 Summer Olympics Men's Marathon?:

Frederick Lorz crossed the finish line first and was hailed as the winner, but he was disqualified after it was discovered that he had hitched a ride in a car for 11 miles (17.7 km) after having supposedly dropped out of the race. The actual winner, Thomas Hicks, was near collapse and hallucinating when he crossed the finish line, a side effect of being administered brandy, raw eggs, and strychnine by his trainers. The fourth-place finisher, Andarín Carvajal, took a nap during the race after eating spoiled apples.

[-] coaxil@lemm.ee 6 points 4 months ago

Old timey stuff is so cooked

[-] Belastend@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

If only someone made a video about this pretty good story.

[-] Vilian@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 months ago

WTF??

[-] sik0fewl@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 months ago

What the hell? When I read "strychnine" I thought that meant he was poisoned. Apparently it used to be a performance enhancing drug!

[-] Toes@ani.social 12 points 4 months ago

They have really pretty shoes. Are any of them the kind people used for cheating in the Olympics?

[-] einkorn@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 4 months ago

We should go back to everybody competing naked like in the good old days of ancient Greece.

[-] DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 months ago

Welp I'd probably go back to watching the Olympics

[-] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

Small breasted women and masochists would be the only ones to complete the race.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

No….

Support is critical for sports. If a guy’s balls bounce the wrong way, they’ll need to be amputated. They can twist and blood flow gets cut off/severed.

Just as an example of the protective nature of clothing.

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Plus it flopping around increases drag and slows you down anyway.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

And hurts on its own. But like… that’s not generally … permanent.

[-] Toes@ani.social 1 points 4 months ago

Agreed

[-] scytale@lemm.ee 4 points 4 months ago

They look like Zoom Alphaflys. They do add a tiny improvement in performance, and milliseconds do matter in high level competition like the Olympics. I'm fine with athletes using them given they still qualify as a shoe and don't have any mechanical parts to them, however it does get unfair if runners from poorer countries can't afford them.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 months ago

His friends let him win by one second in a race in his own country after they had jogged the entire way together, this is pretty normal.

It's not a qualifying event, just a regular half marathon, right?

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 2 points 4 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

HONG KONG — Organizers of the Beijing Half Marathon said they were investigating Monday after video of the race appeared to show three African runners slowing down near the finish line so that a Chinese athlete could win.

He finished with a time of 1:03:44, while the other three runners — Dejene Hailu Bikila of Ethiopia and Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat of Kenya — tied for second at 1:03:45.

Mark Dreyer, author of the book “Sporting Superpower: An Insider’s View on China’s Quest to Be the Best,” said the situation was “extremely odd.”

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

He, 25, who is aiming for the Paris Olympics this summer, set a national record of 2:06:57 at a marathon last month in Wuxi, China.

In 2018, organizers of the Shenzhen Half Marathon said that 258 participants had been caught cheating, including by wearing fake bibs and taking shortcuts.

The original article contains 556 words, the summary contains 166 words. Saved 70%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2024

101 points (98.1% liked)

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