The top finishers in the Beijing Half Marathon were disqualified after three African runners appeared to intentionally let a Chinese competitor win. Video footage showed the African runners stepping aside to allow He Jie of China to win, as they had been hired as pacemakers to help him break the Chinese half-marathon record. All four runners were disqualified, and the race organizers issued an apology, withdrawing their trophies, medals, and bonuses. The incident prompted the Chinese Athletics Association to strengthen supervision of road running events and urged organizers to learn from the situation. The sponsor, Xtep, accepted responsibility for the incident. Despite winning, He fell a second short of breaking the record.