SHANGHAI, China – China has banned three runners for life after breaking the rules at the recent Boston Marathon. The Chinese government accused them of giving the country a bad name even as it vowed to root out cheats, Rappler has reported, citing a dispatch from the French international news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Marathon running is growing fast in China but there have been numerous instances of cheating, including a woman who jumped on a bike in a recent domestic race and several others who took shortcuts, reported AFP.
The most recent of these cases involved one entrant at the prestigious Boston Marathon who reportedly gave his bib to someone else while two other Chinese participants presented forged certificates of previous races to gain entry, AFP reported, citing the Chinese Athletic Association (CAA).
“All the three runners were hit with a life ban from all road running races under the CAA,” AFP quoted Xinhua news agency as saying.
“The CAA also reiterated that it will continue to crack down all kinds of cheats in marathons in order to build a healthy and clean environment of road running in China.”
The trio’s behavior “had a negative impact on China in the (international) community,” said the CAA.
More than 500 runners from China took part in the 123rd Boston Marathon, Xinhua said.
In 2011 there were just 22 marathons, half-marathons or other running events in China, but that number rocketed to about 1,500 last year, said the report.
The surge has seen a spike in cheating and at a domestic marathon last month a woman was caught using a bicycle part of the way.
China is deploying facial-recognition technology as one way to clamp down. –
