The incident occurred during the Beijing half marathon held last weekend, where He Jie finished with a time of 1:03:44, one second ahead of Bikila.

An investigation confirmed the violation, resulting in He Jie being disqualified.

Footage of the end of the race on social media raised suspicions, showing the three African runners reducing their speed to allow He Jie to pass.

Mr. Jie won the men's championship in the marathon with a time of 1:03:44, finishing ahead of Ethiopian Dejene Hailu Bikila, Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, who tied for second place.

However, all four runners have been disqualified and forced to return their medals and prize money.

A special committee found that the three African runners intentionally slowed down in the last 2 kilometers, allowing Mr. Jie to win.

The committee also revealed that the three African runners were originally hired as pacemakers by a sponsor, Xiamen Xtep Investment, but were not identified as such by the race organizers.

Xtep claimed there was a mistake during the registration process.

A team, Xtep, admitted to manipulating the results of a marathon race by having three of their pacemakers slow down to allow a Chinese runner, Mr. Jie, to win, despite one pacemaker not finishing the race.

The race organizing committee issued an apology for not catching the error in time but did not acknowledge the race being rigged.

Xtep accepted the punishment and apologized to the world and society for the incident.