Chinese runner loses sponsor after riding a bike during Berlin marathon

Chinese fitness influencer Sun Yuanyuan, known on social media as Abeeeer, has lost her sponsorship from running shoe maker Brooks. Her result from the Berlin marathon, held in September, has been annulled over doubts about whether she completed the course fairly.

How the breach came to light

Sun had claimed a personal best at the race. An Instagram page that tracks inaccurate or misleading race times posted by influencers published a photo that appears to show her riding on the back of a bicycle pedalled by someone else. The picture was taken between the 35km and 40km marks.

The page also shared a table of her splits for each 5km segment. It indicates that her pace rose markedly between 35km and 40km, the stretch when she was allegedly on the bike.

Apology and the sponsor's decision

Sun posted an apology on the Chinese platform Rednote, admitting she had broken the rules. She said she would make no excuses, adding that feeling unwell during the race was no justification. She described her attempt to take a shortcut as disrespectful to the fairness of the competition and the spirit of the marathon, and acknowledged that she had deliberately concealed her actions. She has 520,000 followers on Rednote.

Brooks confirmed to BBC News that it had dropped her. The company said running should be grounded in integrity, fairness and respect for competition, and that after verifying the facts Brooks China ended its relationship with her.

About the monitoring account

The Instagram account calling itself the Official Marathon Time Integrity Unit was created to draw attention to a trend of GPS-based fabrication, selective Strava displays and false personal-best claims among marathon runners, especially fitness influencers. Its bio describes it as satire.

BBC News has asked the Berlin Marathon organisers for comment.