Chinese Long-Distance Runner, He Jie Stripped of Gold Medal from Beijing Half Marathon

Chinese long-distance runner, He Jie was stripped of his gold medal from the Beijing Half Marathon. The decision comes after an investigation concluded that three African athletes purposely slowed down to let He Jie cross the finish line first.

Video evidence from the final moments of the race showed Dejene Hailu Bikila of Ethiopia and Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat of Kenya slowing down and waving for He Jie to pass them as they approached the finish line. He Jie won the 21 km run in the capital on Sunday, April 14, with a time of 1 hr. 3 min. 44 seconds.

After being closely examined for possible rigging, all four runners, including He, were disqualified and forced to return their medals and award money. Local media described the incident as damaging to the reputation of Chinese marathons. In 2018, 258 runners in the Shenzhen half-marathon were caught cheating in a variety of ways, from wearing fake time trackers to taking shortcuts.