Four mainland Chinese runners were disqualified from the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon for wearing bibs that didn’t match their identities. Photo: Eugene LeeA major marathon in Hong Kong faced controversy on Sunday when the organiser disqualified four mainland Chinese runners for wearing bibs that did not match their identities.
The incident occurred during the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon and has raised concerns about ensuring that runners wear the correct bibs. On Monday night, the organiser clarified that the athletes’ agent had inadvertently mixed up their number tags.
The South China Morning Post examines bib management in major races and explores how to prevent issues such as cheating.
1. What caused the disqualifications?
When the association verified winners’ identities after the races, they discovered that the runner who finished second in the 10km (6.2-mile) race, and the first- and second-place runners in the half-marathon, were wearing bib numbers that did not belong to them.
Three runners were immediately disqualified according to established procedures.
The incidents involved half-marathon runner He Yingbing and his compatriot Sun Xiaoyang, who had their bibs mixed up.
The third runner involved was Xu Guoge, who finished as runner-up in the men’s 10km and shared the same agent. He wore a bib assigned to another athlete, Lan Jiehuai, who finished sixth and was the fourth runner to be disqualified.
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2. How were bibs distributed?
Bibs are distributed to runners via race packs that participants need to collect at a specific time and venue.
Participants need to present their Hong Kong identity cards or travel documents, along with a QR code attached to the email.
Alternatively, they can get a proxy to collect the packs on their behalf by filling out the relevant forms and providing the necessary documents.
Each bib contains a letter representing a running group batch, some numbers, a timing chip on the back, and a smaller paper attached at the corner with the runner’s name in English and other detailed information.
Runners at the Island Eastern Corridor in North Point during this year’s 10km race. Photo: Eugene Lee
Walter Cheung, a public relations consultant who has run 20 full-marathons at the annual event, said on Sunday that the bib distribution procedures were clear and he personally had no issue with it.
“When I picked up my bib, a volunteer asked me to cross-check whether it got my name correct,” he said. “It is the runners’ responsibility to check the identity details on the bib.”
3. What are the loopholes?
At least five runners reported that at the race pack pickup venue, they were not asked to present their identity cards, as the only requirement was to show the QR code from a mobile app used for booking their pickup time slot.
On race day, staff at the checkpoints checked the bibs to ensure that runners were in the correct group before they reached the starting point. But they did not verify whether participants were wearing the correct bibs before allowing them into the starting area. Only the winners were verified at the end.
“There were 74,000 runners at the race on that day. While the organiser can double check to ensure every runner carries the right bib, is it worth the effort? Should the spirit of sports matter more in such a race?” Cheung said.
4. Why would people want to swap bibs?
In the lead up to the event, some runners may take to social media to offer their bibs because they cannot attend due to injury or conflicting schedules.
Since the sign-up period for events usually occurs months before the actual race, and participants often go through a lottery ballot to secure a spot, not everyone who wins the lottery is ready to run, and not everyone who is ready has a secured spot.
For more professional runners, many major races have a qualifying time requirement. Some races offer guaranteed or priority entry if participants can provide a timing certificate from a recognised event, which means they do not need to go through the ballot and have a better chance of securing a spot.
Some runners might aim for one specific race but do not want to participate in all other races to secure a spot. As a result, they give their bibs to others in exchange for a timing certificate to enter another race.
5. How do other races prevent cheating?
Many marathon races across mainland China employ technologies such as facial recognition and clipping bracelets on runners’ wrists during the events.
For example, in the 2023 Nanjing Marathon, the organiser implemented 100 facial recognition devices to scan runners’ faces during race pack pickup, at the starting point, and at the finish line to verify the identities of each participant.
Such technologies are commonly used now in marathons in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Other smaller-scale race organisers in mainland China see bracelet being attached to runners when they pick up their packets, which cannot be removed until race day.
Other international events, such as the Tokyo Marathon and Boston Marathon, specify on their websites that participants must bring a photo ID when picking up their packets, but on the race day, they normally only check if runners are wearing their bibs.
Those caught cheating typically face bans ranging in length from several years to a lifetime, and all prizes and recorded times are discounted.