Recently, in a marathon held in Anyang, Henan Province, it was discovered that the female half marathon champion was actually replaced by a male runner, adding to the series of substitution incidents that have occurred in various places before. The incident caught the attention of the public after it was exposed online.
The 2026 Anyang Marathon, hosted by the Anyang City Government, took place on March 22, featuring both a full marathon and a half marathon with a total of 26,000 participants, including 6,000 for the marathon and 20,000 for the half marathon.
According to reports, on April 14, the event organizing committee announced the award winners from Anyang city, with Sang Moyun winning the first place in the women’s half marathon with bib number D81548, finishing in 1 hour 29 minutes 5 seconds and winning a prize of 1,000 Chinese yuan.
However, several netizens posted claiming that a man actually wore Sang Moyun’s bib number and participated in the race, suggesting the occurrence of substitution.
On April 17, the official “Anyang Marathon” account issued a penalty announcement confirming that besides Sang Moyun (with race number D81548), Cheng Moyun (race number D84639) and Liu Moyunqin (race number D82371) were also involved in transferring their bibs to others for the race, violating regulations. As a penalty, these three individuals had their race results and rankings revoked, were banned for life from participating in the Anyang Marathon, and their cases were reported to the Chinese Athletics Association for further punishment.
Public records show that the 2026 Anyang Marathon was organized by the Anyang City Government and coordinated by the Anyang Cultural, Radio, Television, Sports, and Tourism Bureau, qualifying as a Class A1 event certified by the Chinese Athletics Association.
Prior to this incident, similar incidents had occurred in various parts of China. In a report from December 18, 2016, during the Shenzhen International Marathon, it was discovered that two female winners were actually male. The organizers later released a statement canceling the competition results of the two athletes.
On December 10, 2016, during the Xiamen International Half Marathon, two participants died suddenly near the finish line, with one of them found to have been a “stand-in” runner. The organizers had previously identified over 30 participants as stand-in runners.
A female running enthusiast revealed to the media that “stand-ins” have become a common phenomenon in the running community, where if a named runner is unable to participate, many people choose to take their place, with some even conducting transactions through running groups or online shops. She admitted to having once stood in for someone herself.
This substitution incident has once again sparked discussions online. Netizens expressed their opinions, with comments like, “Similar incidents happened in 2016, almost a decade ago, yet the problem persists, indicating a lack of seriousness.” “Is the organizing committee turning a blind eye? Can they not even distinguish the color of bibs?” “The committee vows to punish, but what will be the specific penalty? Three shots of liquor?” “The absurdity of this situation is akin to a man winning a gold medal in women’s weightlifting.” “If I were the actual second-place winner in the women’s category, I would be livid.” “As a fellow runner, I believe these actions diminish the overall quality of the running community.” “Profiting from stand-ins fundamentally undermines fairness, just like using performance-enhancing drugs.”