A Chinese fitness influencer has been stripped of her Berlin Marathon finish after race authorities confirmed she had hitched a ride on a bicycle during the closing kilometres of the September event, with official timing data and photographic evidence both pointing to a clear breach of the rules.
Yuanyuan Sun, 30, who posts under the handle Abeeeer on the popular Chinese social media platform RedNote, had publicly celebrated what she described as a personal best time of 4 hours, 53 minutes and 46 seconds, posing with her finisher's medal after crossing the line. Her more than 520,000 followers were treated to the achievement — until scrutiny of her race data told a very different story.
How the cheating was uncovered
Race officials grew suspicious after analysing Sun's split times. Her 35–40km split — the very segment in which she later admitted to boarding a bicycle — came in a full six minutes faster than her previous 5km segment, making it her quickest stretch across the entire race. For most recreational runners, speed tends to decline in the final kilometres, not dramatically increase.
Photographic evidence quickly emerged to support what the numbers were already suggesting. An image shared by the Official Marathon Time Integrity Unit showed a woman matching Sun's description sitting on the back of a bicycle, legs dangling over the pedals, glancing at her watch, while an unidentified person pedalled the bike along the course.
The integrity unit's post stated the rider appeared to have been carried from the 38km mark all the way to the finish line, adding that it had received "countless stories of course cutting and use of bikes/scooters" from the Berlin Marathon event more broadly.
On Wednesday, Sun was officially disqualified from the race results.
Influencer issues apology, sponsor cuts ties
Following her disqualification, Sun published a public apology to her followers on RedNote, acknowledging the breach in a statement translated from Mandarin.
"Riding a bicycle during the Berlin Marathon did indeed violate race rules," the statement read. "Even if I felt unwell on the course, it should never be a reason for me to break the rules."
The admission — that she had felt unwell — offered some context for the decision, though it did nothing to mitigate the consequences. Her apparel sponsor, sportswear brand Brooks, moved swiftly to distance itself from the influencer. Sun had been wearing Brooks clothing and shoes during the race.
"Upon verifying the facts, Brooks China immediately terminated its relationship with the influencer and publicly reaffirmed the brand's commitment to integrity, fairness, and the spirit of running," a brand spokesperson said.
The swift commercial fallout underscores the reputational risks now attached to marathon cheating scandals, particularly for public figures with large, engaged online audiences. Sun's case is likely to fuel ongoing debate about integrity enforcement at major road races, which attract tens of thousands of participants and can be difficult to monitor comprehensively across their entire course.
A pattern of marathon misconduct
Sun's disqualification is far from an isolated incident. The Berlin Marathon, one of the world's six major marathon events, has apparently been grappling with a broader culture of course-cutting and the use of alternative transport among some participants.
The integrity unit's public post suggested this was not the first such case it had encountered from this race, warning that cheating of this kind — whether by bicycle, scooter, or cutting the course — undermines the efforts of genuine competitors and the credibility of race results overall.
The integrity of mass-participation road races has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, as timing technology and social media have made it both easier to detect cheating and harder for those caught to deny it. GPS tracking, chip timing and the proliferation of race photography mean that anomalous splits — like a sudden burst of speed in the 38th kilometre — are now routinely flagged and investigated.
For Sun, the consequences have been both official and commercial: her medal is gone, her personal best erased, and her brand partnership terminated. What had been framed as a triumphant athletic milestone on her social media feed has become a public cautionary tale.
What happens next
No further details about any additional sanctions or appeals process have been confirmed at this stage. Sun has not indicated whether she intends to contest the disqualification, and race organisers have not announced any broader crackdown beyond the individual ruling.
Her apology, while public, stopped short of fully explaining the circumstances that led her to accept a ride rather than withdraw from the race or seek medical assistance — a decision that has cost her considerably more than a single race result.
