Robert Keter, Willy Mnangat, He Jie & Dejene Hailu stripped of medals and bonuses

Action has been taken against two Kenyan athletes at the heart of the 2024 Beijing Half Marathon fiasco in which the duo and their Ethiopian counterpart were captured on camera slowing down and urging China’s He Jie to breeze past and win the race.

A probe was launched with claims emerging that the four were not competing in the race, but were pacesetters.

The organizers were at odds to explain why the four who they claimed were pacesetters were awarded as winners of the race.

Kenya's Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat and Ethiopia's Dejene Hailu were captured on camera slowing down to let He Jie pass them and appeared to gesture towards the finish line, seemingly encouraging He Jie to take the lead, while simultaneously slowing down their pace.

The fiasco stirred up controversy with the Chinese Athletics Association swinging into action and vowing to stall such occurrences in the future.

2024 Beijing Half Marathon. 2024 Beijing Half Marathon. Pulse Live Kenya

"In general, the overall operation of road running events has been smooth. But problems in the organisation and management of the events have also been exposed, which has aroused widespread concern." Chinese Athletics Association.

Athletes at the heart of the fiasco speak

The Kenyan athletes at the heart of the probe distanced themselves from any claims of wrongdoing, claiming that they had been contracted to help He Jie win.

READ: VIDEO: 2 Kenyans probed for 'letting' Chinese win 2024 Beijing Half Marathon

They noted that they were not competitors in the race and were surprised when they were given bibs names like other competitors.

According to the athletes, theirs was a clear-cut role: Ensuring He broke the current record, which stands at 1:02:33.

"I was not there to compete. It was not a competitive race for me. My job was to set the pace and help the guy win but unfortunately, he did not achieve the target, which was to break the national record." Mnangat stated.

They however failed to come clean on why they accepted medals and bonuses for a race they claim they were not competitors in.

Controversial races in China

Long distance races in China are infamous for controversies with athletes resorting to underhand means to gain advantage.

2024 Beijing Half Marathon. 2024 Beijing Half Marathon. Pulse Live Kenya

A record 258 runners were found to have cheated during a half-marathon in Shenzhen in 2018, resorting to shortcuts to gain an advantage and cross the finish line first.

A year later in 2019, a footage emerged of a woman riding a rental bike during the Xuzhou International Marathon instead of running.