He Jie at Beijing Half Marathon on Sunday.
A Chinese marathon runner's victory at an event has become a talking point on internet after users claimed that he was allowed to win. The event (Beijing Half Marathon) was held on Sunday and He Jie emerged victorious but organisers launched an investigation after questions were raised, as per The Guardian. A video of race, posted on X, shows Kenya's Willy Mnangat turn toward He and gesture him to move ahead as the four men run neck and neck just metres from the finish line.
The four athletes - Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat of Kenya Dejene Hailu Bikila from Ethiopia and He Jie - had run together for the whole race.
Mnangat told the BBC that they were running as pacemakers for He, who is the Chinese national champion in the full marathon distance. "I was not there to compete. It was not a competitive race for me," the runner said.
After completing the race, Mnangat said he allowed He to win "because he in my friend".
"I don't know why they put my name on my bib/chest number instead of labelling it as a pacemaker. 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 further said.
Winning in a time of 1:03.44, He fell short of the record by one minute and 11 seconds, while Mnangat, Keter and Bikila tied for second place.
But Chinese social media users were not happy with the result.
"The so-called 'ways of the world' should not taint the fairness of competition in sports. Fairness is always at the core of sporting spirit," one user said on Weibo. "I support an investigation, and fair play is vital. I hope authorities can give a clear explanation to maintain fairness of competition and respect athletes' efforts," said another.
Six months ago, He was praised as the first Chinese national to snag gold in the Men's Marathon event of the Asian Games, which were held in October in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.