A video of the moment three black athletes of African origin deliberately slowed down and waved at China’s star runner He Jie, urging him to come forward and finish the Beijing Half Marathon race in first position is making rounds on the internet.
According to the now-viral footage, Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, both from Kenya, and Dejene Hailu from Ethiopia, were about to close in on the finish line. Then they started waving at China’s He Jie to come up ahead of them, while they significantly slowed down.
Initially, it was said that one of the three black runners was not part of the race, but was only a pacemaker.
“I don’t know why they put my name on my bib/chest number instead of labeling it as a pacemaker”, Mnangat, one of the three black runners said.
“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 other two runners have not commented on the incident yet.
However, a spokesperson at the Beijing Sports Bureau said they were investigating the incident, and “will announce the results to the public once they are available.”
The controversial race was also been investigated by Xstep, a Chinese sports brand that sponsored the sports. “The situation is still being confirmed and verified by multiple parties. Further information will be communicated as soon as possible”, it said.
Chinese social media site Weibo was filled with users trolling the race as one of the most embarrassing titles of He Jie’s career, and a shame on the integrity of Chinese sports.