Chinese runner dropped by sponsor after riding bike during marathon

What the report says

Chinese fitness influencer Sun Yuanyuan, who posts under the name Abeeeer, has been dropped by her sponsor after appearing to ride a bicycle during part of the Berlin Marathon, according to BBC World News. The report says the incident came to light after an Instagram account that tracks questionable race results published an image that appeared to show her on a bike between the 35km and 40km marks of the September race.

Sun later apologised on China’s Rednote platform and acknowledged that she had broken the rules. In the apology, she said she would not make excuses and described her conduct as disrespectful to the competition and the marathon spirit. The BBC report also said she admitted to concealing what happened.

Brooks, the running shoe company that sponsored her, confirmed it had ended its relationship with Sun after verifying the facts. Marathon organisers also disqualified her finish time, according to the report. Sun has a large social media following, and the case has drawn attention because it involves allegations of misleading race results by a prominent online athlete.

More broadly, the BBC noted that marathon communities and some online watchdog accounts have become increasingly alert to false performance claims and manipulated tracking data, especially among influencers, though those broader concerns were described in the context of this specific case.