The top four finishers of the Beijing Half Marathon were stripped of their medals following an investigation which revealed that three African runners slowed down deliberately near the finishing line to let a Chinese competitor win, as per the organisers, reported by CNN.

China's He Jie crossed the finishing line with the timings of 1:03:44 and clinched a gold medal and a cash prize of 5,500 USD. The African trio fell just one second short of victory and secured a joint-second place.