30-year-old Sun Yuanyuan even shared her personal best with her followers: 4 hours, 53 minutes and 46 seconds at the Berlin Marathon.
The race took place on September 27, with more than 56,000 runners from 162 countries. Four days later, the Instagram account Official Marathon Time Integrity Unit, dedicated to calling out questionable performances at races, posted a photo taken by another runner. In it, Sun appeared seated on the back of a bicycle. According to the report, it was near kilometer 38, and her fastest split had been recorded between kilometers 35 and 40. The bib in the photo was registered in the influencer’s name.
By October 7, the official results already showed her as disqualified, and her time had been removed. Brooks China, her sponsor, terminated the contract.
Sun apologized on RedNote to about 520,000 followers. She said she had felt physically unwell during the race, but clarified that this was no excuse: “My conduct in taking a shortcut was disrespectful to the spirit of the marathon”.