Beijing Half Marathon runner insists he was employed as ‘pacer’ for winner He Jie, as agent angrily denies involvement
- Kenya’s Willy Mnangat claims he was employed to help winner He Jie break Chinese half-marathon record
- But his name was not on list of official pacers and agent Karen Lin angrily denies involvement when contacted by Post
Willy Mnangat, one of the runners involved in the Mengniu Beijing Half Marathon controversy, insists he was a pacemaker in the race despite suggestions he entered as a runner.
Kenyans Mnangat and Robert Keter, and Ethiopia’s Dejene Hailu Bikila found themselves in the middle of a social media storm on Monday, with footage of the end of Sunday’s race showing them slowing down to let China’s He Jie win.
In videos of the incident, Mnangat can be seen looking at Asian Games marathon gold medallist He and pointing forward as the four runners approach the finish line.
Mnangat also made a waving gesture, beckoning He to go ahead. The Chinese runner passed the trio and they made no effort to respond.
On Monday, Mnangat told the Post he let the Chinese athlete pass him “because he is my friend”.
But six hours later, Mnangat claimed he and three others were hired as pacemakers to help He break the Chinese half-marathon record of one hour two minutes 33 seconds. The winning time was 1:03:44.
