Four Chinese runners were disqualified from Sunday’s Standard Chartered Hong Kong Half Marathon and 10K after being found wearing the wrong bibs. Unlike typical bib-swapping stories, this incident was reportedly a mishap, leaving the winner and runner-up in the half-marathon and 10K without prize money.
Chinese distance runners He Yingbing and Sun Xiaoyang had originally finished first and second in the half-marathon, in 65:36 and 66:11, respectively, finishing more than a minute faster than the third-place finisher, Hong Kong’s Vincent Lam (67:38). As officials reviewed Yingbing’s and Xiaoyang’s results, they said both athletes were not wearing the correct bibs.
There was also a third runner involved, who finished as runner-up in the men’s 10K; he shares the same agent as Yingbing and Xiaoyang. He wore a bib assigned to another athlete, Lan Jiehuai, who finished sixth and was the fourth runner to be disqualified. Because of the mix-up, three of the four men missed out on more than US$800 in prize money.
Race officials said the concern for professional runners wearing the wrong bib is that many major races have a qualifying time requirement. Some races offer guaranteed or priority entry if participants can provide a timing certificate from a recognized event, which means they do not need to go through the ballot, and have a better chance of securing a spot if they have a faster athlete run the time.
The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon officials have not released further details on these runners, but confirmed that all four disqualified professional athletes had the same manager/agent.
According to the South China Morning Post, the bib mix-up appears to have stemmed from their agent giving them the wrong bibs before the race. Since marathon rules require runners to wear the bibs assigned to them, all four were stripped of their results. While race officials acknowledged the error may not have been intentional, they stressed that proper identity verification at bib pick-up would’ve prevented the issue.
Officials have not ruled out further action as an investigation into the mix-up continues. “As to whether we will take any further disciplinary action beyond disqualifying their results this year, we need to gather more information and speak with the runners to understand the whole situation,” said Dennis Ng Yu-Ho, executive director of the Hong Kong/China Association of Athletics Affiliates (HKCAAA) in an article.
No matter if you’re finishing at the front or back of the pack, this mix-up serves as a reminder to double-check your race bib to ensure it’s yours before toeing the line.
