At the 2024 Beijing Half Marathon that ended last Sunday, a controversy broke out over three African runners letting themselves in to help a Chinese runner win the championship. The current situation is that the Beijing Sports Bureau and other officials have begun investigating the matter, and World Athletics has paid attention to it. He Jie, who won the gold medal, revealed that he was actually a "victim", and a Kenyan athlete involved changed his story and said that he was a "pacer" member".
This year’s Beijing Half Marathon attracted 20,000 participants. Hangzhou Asian Games full marathon gold medal He Jie won the championship in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 44 seconds. Second to fourth place were Ethiopian athlete Dejene Hailu Bikila and Kenyan athlete Robert Kettle. Keter), Managat (willy mnangat).
The irony is that these three African runners were originally in the leading group, but they all slowed down before the finish line and "escorted" He Jie to take the lead in crossing the line. In response to the turmoil, some netizens posted screenshots of He Jie's response to the controversy in the social platform fan group, "My professionalism does not allow me to withdraw from the competition, and I do not need this championship to prove myself.", "Now I receive it. Many unfriendly comments and private messages really made me feel chilled and confused."
In response to fans' criticism and disappointment, He Jie responded that he has not forgotten his mission, "I am the victim in this incident and I don't know what to do. As for how to do it, I just know that I have to go all out for the race from the moment I start the race. I can only be myself." In an interview after the race, he also revealed that he had been preparing for the Wuxi Marathon, but his physical condition was not good recently. Good, so I gave up the record challenge at 5 kilometers.
Managete originally admitted to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post that he politely let He Jie win the championship because the two were friends. Later, he told the BBC African sports reporter that the four of them were pacers and wanted to help He Jie break the Chinese semi-finals. Horse record, but failed, and one of them did not finish the race. "I didn't go there to compete. For me, this is not a highly competitive race." Managat also explained, "I don't know why My name is written on my chest bib instead of being labeled as pacer”
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