BANGKOK (AP) — Organizers have revoked He Jie's first place in the Beijing Half Marathon last weekend after an investigation confirmed that three other runners had slowed down to let him win the race.
All four runners were disqualified and had to return their medals and award money.
Chinese online users had shared the video from the final moment s of Sunday’s race out of suspicion that it had been rigged. The footage showed three African runners letting He, China’s top long-distance runner, move ahead of them shortly before they were about to reach the finish line.
The three runners deliberately reduced their pace, according to a statement from a committee set up to investigate the race.
The special committee said that four runners had originally been hired as pacemakers by a sponsor but that the main organizers of the race had not known this. One of the pacemakers didn't finish the race.
The statement did not acknowledge whether the race was rigged, but it did issue an apology.
“We deeply and sincerely apologize to the world and to every part of society, that we did not discover and correct the mistakes in time at this race,” the committee said. Zhong’ao Lupao Sports Management Co, the main organizer, is losing its right to host the Beijing Half Marathon as punishment.
One of the runners had told BBC Sport Africa that they allowed He to win because they had been hired to serve as pacemakers and were not competing to win the race.
“I was not there to compete,” Willy Mnangat of Kenya was quoted as saying. “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.”
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FILE - In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, He Jie, the men's marathon record holder in China, wearing number 1, runs alongside African competitors during the Bejjing Half-Marathon 2024 in Beijing on April 14, 2024. Organizers are investigating the half-marathon race in Beijing after video from the race showing three African runners appearing to let the Chinese runner ahead of them right as they are about to cross the finish line sparked public speculation that the race was rigged. (Ju Huanzong/Xinhua via AP, File)
PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.
It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.
Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.
“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.
Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.
“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."
Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.
Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.
“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.
Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.
Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.
FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
