Recently, at a half marathon held in Beijing, China, other runners were seen deliberately slowing down to allow a Chinese athlete to win, causing controversy. The organizers of the Beijing Half Marathon said they are investigating the dispute.
According to foreign media reports such as Newsweek, China’s He Jie, who won a gold medal at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, won the Beijing half marathon held in Beijing, China on the 14th (local time) with a record of 1 hour, 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
As the video spread widely through Chinese social media, netizens continued to criticize it. In the video, it seems that Kenyan athletes Robert Keeter and Willy Nnangat, who were running ahead, and Ethiopian Dejene Bikila look back at Heoje and slow down before the finish line. Before reaching the finish line, the athlete running next to Heo Je, dressed in orange, waved his hand towards the other two athletes, giving the impression that he would stop them.
As a result, Heo Je took the lead and took first place. The other three African athletes tied for second place with records just one second behind.
Chinese netizens who saw this said, “Heo Je won, but the foreign players didn’t seem to want to compete,” and “Should I go to the Central Supervisory Inspection Commission (the top governing body of the Chinese Communist Party) to describe match conditions?” said the player.
Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, also said on Weibo (a Chinese version of .
Nnangat told Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP), “I let Heo Je win because we are friends.” But, he said, “I wasn’t asked to do that and there was no compensation.”
As the controversy grew, the Beijing Sports Bureau, which hosted the event, announced it was conducting a fact-finding investigation. He then said, “As soon as the results are out, we will reveal them to the public. “
In response to the BBC, the World Association of Athletics Federations said, “We are aware of a video that has been circulated online following this weekend’s Beijing half marathon,” and added, “We understand that an investigation is ongoing with the authorities.” He continued, “The World Athletics Federation puts the integration of sports as its priority. “Because the investigation is ongoing forward at the moment, we cannot give official comments,” he said.
Meanwhile, Heo Je, who aims to participate in this summer’s Paris Olympics, set a new Chinese record by crossing the finish line in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 57 seconds at the full course marathon held in Wuxi last month. It is known that this is the first time that Heo Je participated in a half marathon.
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2024-04-16 03:14:43
#move #Chinese #player #suspicions #matchfixing #Chinese #marathons
