Published: 9:30pm, 9 Feb 2025Updated: 2:03am, 10 Feb 2025
Three mainland Chinese runners were disqualified for wearing the wrong bibs during Sunday’s Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, with officials warning that they did not rule out taking further action once an investigation had been completed.
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The decision to strip He Yingbing and Sun Xiaoyang of their first and second places in the half-marathon and to scratch an athlete in the 10km race overshadowed a relatively comfortable win for Kenya’s Bethwell Kipkemboi in the main event.
It also handed the half-marathon title to local runner Vincent Lam and led to all-Hong Kong podiums in both the men’s and women’s races over the 13.1-mile distance.
Record holder Volha Mazuronak won the women’s marathon for a second time, and despite suggestions that low temperatures and dry conditions could put her mark in danger, the Belarusian’s time of two hours, 27 minutes was some way short of the 2:26:13 she posted in 2019.
But on a day when organisers said 90 per cent of the 74,000 runners who entered across the four different races – marathon, half-marathon, 10km and wheelchair – took to the streets, it was the disqualification that made headlines.
02:08
‘It’s a big challenge’: Tens of thousands of runners battle cold front at the Hong Kong marathon
‘It’s a big challenge’: Tens of thousands of runners battle cold front at the Hong Kong marathon
He and Sun finished comfortably ahead of the rest of the field, coming home in 1:05:36 and 1:06:11, respectively. Lam was originally third in 1:07:38.