Beijing race probed after Chinese star 'handed win'

China’s leading marathon runner appeared to have been gifted victory in Sunday’s Beijing Half Marathon, prompting an enquiry by organisers after speculation on social media.

Organisers are investigating after three African runners appeared to let He Jie move ahead of them shortly before the finish line and sprint to victory.

There was a flood of public reaction online expressing suspicion after video from the final moments circulated online.

“The organising committee attaches great importance to the issue raised by netizens about the results of the (race),” organisers said on Monday. “A special investigation team has been set up to conduct an investigation, and the results of the investigation will be released to the public in a timely fashion.”

The Beijing Sports Bureau, which was in charge of the race, did not respond to a request for comment.

He, who won the marathon at the Asian Games and holds the Chinese national record in the event, was trailing behind three runners from Kenya and Ethiopia as they approached the finish line. One of the runners then seems to gesture for the others to slow down as He moves in front and sprints to the finish line.

One of the other runners, Willy Mnangat of Kenya, told BBC Sport Africa that they allowed He to win but that they had been hired to serve as pacemakers and were not competing to win the race. However, all three had entered the race as official competitors rather than as pacemakers.

“I was not there to compete,” Mnangat was quoted as saying. “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.”

He finished with a time of one hour, three minutes, 44 seconds, which was more than a minute slower than the Chinese half marathon record.