A Chinese fitness influencer has been dropped by her sponsor after she apologised for riding a bicycle during the Berlin marathon.
Sun Yuanyuan, known as Abeeeer on Chinese social media, had claimed a personal best during the event held in September.
An Instagram page dedicated to monitoring inaccurate race times published a picture that appeared to show Sun on a bicycle between the 35 km and 40 km marks.
Sun apologised and admitted 'breaking the rules'. The running shoe company 'Brooks' has ended its sponsorship deal with her and her finish time has been disqualified by the marathon organisers.
The Instagram account calling itself the Official Marathon Time Integrity Unit, or 'OMTIU', posted a photo of Sun apparently on the back of a bike being ridden by another person during the marathon.
The page also shared a grid of Sun's 'splits'—the times taken to complete different 5 km segments—showing a speed increase between the 35 and 40 km marks, when she was allegedly on the bike.
Sun posted an apology on the Chinese social media platform Rednote, which was shared by the 'OMTIU', admitting she had broken the rules.
She wrote: I won’t make any excuses for this behaviour. I was feeling physically unwell on the course, but that is absolutely not an excuse for breaking the rules. My attempt to take a shortcut was disrespectful to the fairness of the competition and the spirit of the marathon. She added that she deliberately concealed her actions and feels deeply guilty.
A company statement from 'Brooks' said: 'Brooks believes running should be grounded in integrity, fairness, and respect for competition. After verifying the facts, Brooks China terminated its relationship with the individual and publicly addressed the matter.'
The 'OMTIU' was set up to highlight the growing trend of GPS-based fabrication, selective Strava displays and false PR claims among marathon runners, especially fitness influencers. Its mission is to protect the integrity of the sport by ensuring the times athletes share publicly reflect what they actually ran. The page's bio indicates it is 'satire'.
The Berlin Marathon organisers hope to clarify the situation further.
