VIDEO. He overtakes two Kenyans and an Ethiopian in the final straight: suspicious victory for a Chinese at the Beijing half-marathon

In red, Chinese athlete He Jie, who won the Beijing half-marathon this Sunday April 14. Capture

His competitors slow down, one of them even seems to wave him through. This Monday, April 15, the particularly suspicious victory of Chinese athlete He Jie at the Beijing half marathon triggered the opening of an investigation.

The video is surprising. At the head of the pack, four athletes. Three of them seem to slow down as they approach the finish line, in order to let their Chinese competitor pass. 

The organizers of the Beijing half-marathon have launched an investigation after the controversial victory on Sunday April 14 of a Chinese athlete who appears, in images, to have received deliberate support from three more runners to win.

Videos of the race show He Jie, 25, being left behind as he approached the finish line by Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, as well as the # 39;Ethiopian Dejene Hailu. But these last appear to slow down and signal the Chinese athlete to move ahead. He Jie, marathon gold medalist at the 2023 Asian Games, wins the race by one second ;#39;advance.

These three runners rigged it so China’s He Jie would win the race 😬 pic.twitter.com/sF5qI2ULtM

— non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) April 16, 2024

"It's a shame"

"We are investigating and will announce the conclusion to the public when it becomes known", said Monday to AFP a Beijing city official responsible for sports, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The race organizer has confirmed the opening of an investigation. He Jie's controversial victory sparked an uproar on Chinese social media.

"It's certainly the most embarrassing competition of (his) career", said an Internet user on the social network Weibo. "The sportsmanship is really reduced to nothing, it's a shame", railed another. Several sporting events in China have been marred by cheating in recent years. In 2019, a participant in the Xuzhou International Marathon (eastern China) was seen and filmed on a bicycle.

Several other cases of cheating

That same year, a Chinese orienteering team was disqualified for "cheating" during the Military Games. Chinese athletes won the very first places in a test consisting of using maps and compasses to orient themselves as quickly as possible. But it turned out that they had been “helped by spectators, markings and small paths prepared for them and of which only they were aware& quot;, had estimated the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).

In 2018, cameras filmed runners taking shortcuts and weaving between trees during a half-marathon organized in Shenzhen (south). Of the participants, 258 had been found guilty of cheating.