Open Source Investigation: Alleged Race Fixing at Beijing Half Marathon
This article will be a change of scene from the normally quite serious topics I have been covering. Still focusing on China, this article will be on the alleged race fixing incident on 14 Apr 24 at the Mengniu Beijing Half Marathon 2024 (蒙牛2024北京半程马拉松).
The scene of the alleged crime was the approach for the finishing line which was designated to be in the vicinity of the National Indoor Stadium (see official race map as below).
The alleged perpetrator was road race runner from Kenya Willy Mgangat whose World Athletics profile states that he had competed in 10,000 km and half marathon races. The alleged accomplices were his countryman Robert Keter and Ethiopian runner Dejene Hailu Bikila. Their crime? Obviously slowing down on the approach to the finishing line to allow Chinese runner He Jie (何杰) to overtake them to win the race at a time of 1hr 3 mins and 44 seconds. The trio then coordinated their finish to clock in together a second later as joint second.
Mnangat defended his actions to the media by saying that he allowed He to win as the latter was his friend. He further explained that he was actually a pace setter and was not supposed to be in the race – despite having been given a race number tag with his name on. In China, pacers are colloquially known as “rabbits” (兔子) – like the mechanical rabbit at dog track racing. I found a photo of the 2019 edition of the Beijing Half Marathon. Pacers had to wear a bright coloured top with the word “Pacer” printed on it (see below). Mnangat was not wearing such a top.
Mnangat said that he also paced for He in an earlier race, the Wuxi Marathon (无锡马拉松）which took place on 24 Mar 24. Was there any evidence of this? I found footage during the start of the Wuxi Marathon which seems show a runner similar to Mnangat.
In the video found on YouTube, at the 2.6 km mark of the race, a pacer (without a tag on his shirt) was shown tumbling to the ground when amongst the leading runners (see below). He who finished fourth in the race could be seen running to the left of the leading pack.
He (left most) and unnamed pacer who fell (centre)
Despite the tumble, the pacer appeared to have recovered quickly enough to rejoin the leading runners.
He (left most) and unnamed pacer who fell (right most)
The fallen pacer then appeared follow the pack till the 10 km mark before dropping off by the time the video on YouTube showed the race at the 12.8km mark. He bore some resemblance to Mnangat (left most below) – similar built and stature as well as similar pair of bright orange shoes.
So there’s a possibility that Mnangat’s explanation about having been a pacer at the Wuxi marathon checks out. From media reports and social media, we know that He had been to Kenya to train. The first occasion was September 2022 when He was part of a Chinese training contingent of long distance runners. In social media posts dated March 2024, there were media uploads of He training in Kenya on the Bilibili account of his sponsor Te Bu (特步) which was a co-sponsor for the Beijing half marathon. So it is possible for He to have the opportunity to be acquainted with Mnangat during these training stints – I couldn’t find anything conclusive.
A South China Morning Post report mentioned that they reached out to Mnangat’s agent, a person named, “Karen Lin”. The agent’s name was found on Mnangat’s World Athletics profile, along with her mobile and landline telephone numbers (under the tab “Athlete Representative Karen LIN”). Her landline number provided was curiously one that pointed to a Canadian location with a +1 country code and a British Colombia area code of 604. It belonged to a business called TJL Floor and Garage Door Inc.
Unfortunately the website did not contain any details of its owner. A Whois lookup on the url also yielded no new information (redacted for privacy by the registrar GoDaddy). I then tried to search for a business registration and managed to find a profile on BBB.org (Better Business Bureau) which contained some information on persons associated with TJL Inc. Under “Business Management, we find the following names:
Jack Liu, Director
Tom Luo, Director
Leo Liu, Director
Following up on the names, which are rather generic, yielded no useful results. So with that we hit a dead end and a natural point to end off this article.
TJL Inc’s shop space at Richmond, British Columbia
So what did we find? First, He and Mnangat have the possible opportunity of being acquainted during He’s training stints in Kenya. Following up on Mnangat’s agent “Karen Lin”, we see the possibility that she might be Canadian-based and that she could be associated with a flooring contractor business in Canada. At risk of sounding corny, my investigation started with a runner falling to the floor and ended with a flooring company.
Update (19 April 24)
Upon investigation, the race authority decided to strip He of his win [link]. He’s sponsor Te Bu (or Xtep) clarified that the three African runners who placed second were indeed hired as pacers for He but they had neglected to properly register them.
