Organizers revoked He Jie’s first place finish in the Beijing Half Marathon last weekend after an investigation confirmed that three other runners had slowed down to allow him to win the race.
The four runners were disqualified and had to return their medals and prize money.
Chinese online users had shared the video of the final moments of Sunday’s race over suspicions it had been manipulated.
The footage showed three African runners letting He, China’s top long-distance runner, pass them shortly before they were about to reach the finish line.
The three runners deliberately slowed their pace, according to a statement from a committee created to investigate the race.
The special committee claimed that four runners had initially been hired by a sponsor as pacemakers, but that the main race organizers did not know this.
One of the pacemakers did not finish the race.
The statement did not acknowledge whether the race was rigged, but did issue an apology.
“We deeply and sincerely apologize to the world and all sectors of society for not having discovered and corrected the errors in time in this race,” the committee said.
Zhong’ao Lupao Sports Management Co, the main organizer, loses its right to host the Beijing Half Marathon as punishment.
One of the runners had told BBC Sport Africa that He was allowed to win because they had been hired to serve as pacemakers and were not competing to win the race.
“I wasn’t there to compete,” said Kenya’s Willy Mnangat. “My job was to set the pace and help the guy win, but unfortunately he didn’t achieve the goal, which was to beat the national record.”
AP
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