Beijing Half Marathon uproar: Kenyan says he let China’s He Jie win race ‘because he is my friend’
- Widespread ridicule over footage showing Willy Mnangat looking at He and beckoning his Chinese opponent to go ahead of him and two other runners
- The event’s organiser is looking into the incident, which a Chinese sports expert says ‘is simply not done at elite level’
Kenyan runner Willy Mnangat has said he let China’s He Jie win the Beijing Half Marathon, explaining that he did it “because he is my friend”.
The end of Sunday’s 21km (13-mile) race caused uproar online as suspicions were aroused about the leading runners appearing to let He overtake.
Footage showed Mnangat, fellow Kenyan Robert Keter and Ethiopia’s Dejene Hailu Bikila running together, with He, the Asian Games marathon gold medallist, just behind.
Mnangat was shown looking at He, pointing to the finish line and making a waving gesture, beckoning him to go ahead. He passed the trio and they made no effort to respond.
Asked by the Post whether he had let He win, Mnangat said “yes”.
“He comes to Kenya and I was [pacing for him] in the Wuxi Marathon, so he is my friend, OK,” Mnangat said.