Chinese Influencer Loses Sponsor After Admitting She Rode a Bicycle to 'Take a Shortcut' During Berlin Marathon

A Chinese fitness influencer has been disqualified from the Berlin Marathon and dropped by running brand Brooks China after admitting she rode on the back of a bicycle during the race.

Sun Yuanyuan, who posts as Abeeeer to more than half a million followers, had celebrated completing the 27 September race in 4:53:46 as a personal best. Her result was subsequently disqualified, with her finishing time removed from the official results, according to The Athletic.

Photograph and Split Times Prompted Scrutiny

The result came under scrutiny after the Official Marathon Time Integrity Unit, an independent social-media account that examines questionable race results, shared a photograph showing Sun sitting on the back of a bicycle near the 38km mark.

The account, which is not a unit of the Berlin Marathon organiser, also shared her split times. The published data showed that she covered the section from 30km to 35km in 36 minutes 51 seconds. Her next 5km, from 35km to 40km, took 30 minutes 49 seconds.

The later section was six minutes and two seconds quicker. The photograph was reportedly taken within that 35km-to-40km stretch.

The timing difference prompted scrutiny alongside the image, but it did not establish how far Sun travelled by bicycle or how much time the ride saved. Her subsequent apology confirmed that she had ridden on the bike during the race.

The Athletic reported on 7 October that Sun had been disqualified and her finishing time removed from the official results.

Sun Apologised and Admitted Concealing the Ride

On 3 October, Sun posted an apology on RedNote admitting that riding the bicycle had violated the race rules. She said feeling unwell did not justify her actions and acknowledged deliberately concealing the incident when sharing her result afterwards.

Her admission addressed both the use of the bicycle and the way she had presented her performance publicly. She had previously celebrated the finishing time as a personal best without disclosing the ride.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, as reported by Mothership, Sun initially said she had felt unwell near the 38km mark and accepted a friend's bicycle ride to find a race official because she intended to withdraw.

That was her explanation for accepting the ride, rather than an independently established account of her intentions. In her later apology, she acknowledged that she had broken the rules and concealed the incident when posting about the race.

Brooks China Acknowledged Its Own Oversight

Brooks China announced on 4 October that it had ended its partnership with Sun and would not work with her again.

The company said it had agreed to support her Berlin Marathon participation and supplied race equipment after learning about her training plans and goals.

After the race, Brooks reviewed her finishing result and the photographs and videos she supplied. However, it acknowledged that it had not adequately examined the full race process, particularly her split times.

The brand said it ended the partnership after verifying what had happened. It apologised to runners, consumers and others following the case and said it would be more careful when selecting collaborators.

Its statement distinguished between the material initially provided by Sun and the wider timing data that later came under scrutiny.

Earlier Ultrarunning Case Also Involved Vehicle Transport

The incident recalls the disqualification of Scottish ultrarunner Joasia Zakrzewski from the 2023 GB Ultras Manchester-to-Liverpool race.

Zakrzewski finished third in the 50-mile event, but race officials subsequently disqualified her after finding that she had used vehicle transport for part of the route. Reporting put the distance travelled by car at about 2.5 miles.

Her account and the organisers' account differed over aspects of what happened. The comparison concerns the use of transport during a race, rather than establishing that the two runners acted in identical circumstances.

In Sun's case, the photograph prompted scrutiny, her apology confirmed the rule breach, and Brooks China acknowledged shortcomings in its own review of her result.

The company's response highlighted the distinction between checking a finishing time and examining the data behind a performance.