HONG KONG (AP) — The top four finishers at the Beijing Half Marathon were stripped of their medals after an investigation found three African runners crossed the finishing line to hand over the win to a competitor from China, according to organizers, CNN reports. Had done it. Pass deliberately slowed down the pace. China's He Jie crossed the finishing line with a timing of 1:03:44 and won the gold medal and a cash prize of US$5,500. The African trio fell just one second short of victory and finished joint second. A video clip of the finale showed Kenya's Willie Mnangat turning towards them and gesturing for them to go ahead, while the four men raced head-to-head.Former 5 km world record holder and Kenyan athlete Robert Katter waved as the trio passed and signaled his compatriot and Ethiopian Dagen Halut to step back. This video caused a lot of uproar in China and many people demanded investigation and action. Organizer. In a statement released on Friday, the marathon's organizing committee said that the three runners, "actively slowed down in the last 2 kilometers and as a result He Jie won the men's championship. The results of all four athletes were displayed on their trophies, The statement said the three African runners were invited to run the race by Chinese sports company Extep, which sponsored both the event and the marathon, but according to the committee, on Friday In a statement released, Xtape "sincerely apologized".We take a great responsibility for this, fully accept the penalty decision made by the organizing committee,” the contestant and his clients said, adding that they would “conduct a serious review” to ensure such incidents do not happen again. The 25-year-old has broken the Chinese marathon record twice in the past two years and is considered one of his country's best long-distance runners, ranked 74th in the world rankings by World Athletics. And he is expected to lead the Asian runners during the Paris 2024 Olympics..