The most ridiculous thing this year may be decided in April.
In the past two days, the whole network has been "watching" a marathon video, and the finish line is approaching, and the champion is like a hot potato, which makes people want to hide far away.
The three runners collectively "humble" themselves and waved their hands to the other runner to "watch" him reach the finish line first.
This happened in the 2024 Beijing International Long-distance Running Festival-Beijing Half Marathon, which started at 7 o'clock on April 14.
On the day of the race, the Beijing subway became a special train for this half-marathon, and the onlookers were crowded on both sides of the track, and the Chinese runner won the championship.
However, this year's Beijing Half Marathon has been transformed into a Beijing Film Festival (special sports session).
People who are not running circles have also been dispatched and have joined the field of public opinion.
"Can you still cheat with open cards?", "It's too insulting to the audience's IQ", "Isn't this pure and disgusting", the North Half Horse entry was fiercely occupied by negative emotions.
Fan Zhiyi was heartbroken and scolded the famous scene of the national football team. JPG appears frequently in the comment section.
"Turning a marathon into an exhibition race" is still the kind that feeds the audience.
The reason for the incident is very intuitive and vivid, and it comes from the performance of the four champions at the end of the competition.
At that time, there were three African runners and one Chinese runner, He Jie, running towards the finish line with the First Army.
The three foreign players maintained the leading formation and always paid attention to He Jie's state, thinking that they were afraid of He Jie's strength.
However, when it was time to sprint, the three of them looked at He Jie frequently, but there was no sign of acceleration.
Netizens looked at their faces full of incredulity, "This foreigner stepped on the brakes before the finish line and smoked."
In the end, the Chinese players won the championship by one second, and were ridiculed as "with excellent sprint ability, they killed 3 foreign players before the finish line".
With the famous scene of almost being carried to the line, the northern half of the horse is nicknamed "North Companion Horse".
It's not like it's a serious competition, but it looks like it's deliberately looking for a companion to accompany the students all the way and help the seeded players win the championship.
For the first time, everyone saw that the sports competition became a father and son, filial piety, and harmony, and Kong Rong made pears, and achieved friendship first in a strange attitude.
The commentators were stunned, they had never seen such an outrageous scene and frantically made up for it, they could only say that the four of them had a tacit understanding, communicated and exchanged, and actively promoted each other.
The brands involved were also scolded to a new height, and the acting was smashed, trying to show the brand influence, but the result was backfire and self-defeating.
On April 15, the relevant person in charge of the brand responded: "At present, the situation is still being confirmed and verified with multiple parties, and further information will be communicated as soon as there is follow-up." ”
A day after the incident fermented, the organizing committee issued a notice on the evening of the 16th, stating that a special investigation team had been set up to carry out an investigation, and the results of the investigation would be announced to the public in a timely manner.
On the same day, He Jie responded in the fan group, stating that he didn't need this champion to prove himself.
In the screenshot of the private message posted by netizens, He Jie said that he was the victim of the incident.
And the "victims" of Northern Malaysia are not only the champions.
The day before the start of the North Malaysia race, another top runner in the domestic marathon running circle, Jia Orenga, spoke out, believing that he was deliberately targeted by the organizing committee and failed to qualify.
Some netizens interpreted Jia Ou's "forced absence" as a victim of the sponsor battle, which was related to the brand he signed with.
Generally speaking, in addition to the probability, the marathon draw will also consider the applicant's past results to a considerable extent, so as to avoid the regret of high-level runners.
In the official response, Jia Orirenjia signed up but did not win the lottery, and then signed up through the sponsor channel, but he was a contestant signed by the competition brand of the organizing committee, which exceeded the scope of the use of sponsor quotas.
It seems that it is indeed in accordance with the process, and there is no "handle" to grasp, at most question the event organizers.
In any case, the right to interpret the process and rules, set standards and enforce them are all in the hands of the organizers.
In the just-concluded 2024 Lanzhou Marathon draw, there were also six specific elite masters who did not win the lottery.
Their sponsor is not the same as Ranma's main sponsor, which has aroused a lot of associations.
For netizens who don't pay attention to the marathon, they may subconsciously feel that if they want to "protect the championship", then "solve the problem" from the source, and buy competitive runners to persuade them not to participate in the race.
After all, judging from the performance on the field, the three "humble" players can accept acting against their true will, and they should not refuse to "directly not participate", and even this option is more worry-free and trouble-free, and will not be "exposed" in front of the audience and the whole network.
To explain this, it is impossible to avoid the important role of commercial marathons - rabbits.
The rabbit is a human paceometer and windshield for the top players, and is widely used in non-pure competitive events.
This time, the North Half Marathon also has officially arranged rabbits, and several gears are set according to the pace to improve the overall performance level of the runners.
Kipchoge, the current marathon leader, had several "rabbits" in rotation to escort him in an exhibition race arranged by Nike to challenge the Guinness World Record.
The formation is the result of precise hydrodynamic calculations, which minimise Kipchoge's drag and physical exertion, helping him to achieve better results.
@名眼说
In the North Half Marathon, the three African runners have not lost to He Jie in the past, and it stands to reason that they will not compete as rabbits.
Therefore, in everyone's interpretation, the three players who ranked 2-4 in the final ranking are arranged "private rabbits", which are dedicated to serving the setting of the champion.
In this process, the rabbits play a leading role, helping the "real runners" to adjust their pace, providing some emotional value and encouraging the "client" to keep going.
And, most importantly, not to cross the line in front of the champion.
If this is the case, then a series of actions during the game are "reasonable".
This includes, but is not limited
In the last few hundred meters, he looks back from time to time and makes a gesture similar to waving his hand to open the way, as if to confirm whether the target person is following and whether he needs to slow down.
After reaching the finish line, the foreign runners looked calm and relaxed, patting the backs of the Chinese runners who were bent over and panting, giving the impression that they had only spent half the power on a full electric run.
And with such abundant physical strength, there is no sign of accelerating sprint near the end.
@爱跑步的一心人
The "escort" experience of the three contestants has not yet reached the realm of turning big things into small things and small things hidden invisible, and there are many "flaws".
All layman onlookers can't stand it, and there is no need for any professional bloggers to analyze and disassemble it in detail, and take a magnifying glass to look at it frame by frame, and you can immediately feel that something is wrong.
Some netizens were shocked, and the simple values were seriously impacted.
In the comment section, they shouted in unison, who can tell me what is true now.
The replies at the bottom are one after another, the aggrieved life you are enduring is real, the illness is real, the poverty is real, and the anger you suffer at work is real......
A marathon farce that allows everyone's thinking to diverge infinitely, integrate the reality around them, and tell the story that is happening and will continue to happen.
No wonder as the saying goes, life is more exciting than TV dramas, and it is once again concrete.
The so-called black humor is often born in the unshakable reality and difficult life experience.
We, the general public, have always been able to take pleasure in this kind of "this is so outrageous that people can't believe it".
Some people sharply criticize foreign players as too "professional", but "unprofessional" in the most "professional" place.
There are also people who creatively propose that if they want to be the champion in the future, they can run with them and throw a beautiful parabola before the finish line.
Intimate netizens took into account the rigorous front and rear standing issues, and suggested that they should be pushed and run in wheelchairs, so that the victory is in hand, and the people in the wheelchair can gain stable happiness.
There has also been a lot of speculation surrounding the inversion of the prize money, with the second, third and fourth places being thought to have more "actual hand-holding" bonuses than the winners.
For sponsors, it needs a player with strength, even championship strength, to gain attention and highlight with the cooperative brand through the results of running.
There is no problem with this set of business logic, the problem is that this chain can sometimes be confused, and the focus has changed from betting, screening seedlings, and providing support to what kind of results must be obtained, and must make their own products appear on the champion.
The infinite back-loading of the sponsorship also reduced the competition to a result-first show.
Among the various true and false voices, at least two things can be determined.
One of them is the high industry status and wide attention of this race, which occupies the C position among the 13 marathon A-level events held on the same day in the country.
As the World Athletics Federation's signature event, the North Half Marathon has more than 20,000 participants, which is more than some of the marathon events held on the same day.
The second is He Jie's personal ability and appeal inside and outside the circle.
He Jie is currently the first brother of the domestic marathon, and he is in the stage of climbing towards the golden period of his career.
Last year, the Hangzhou Asian Games won the marathon championship, which was also the first time that Chinese athletes won the men's marathon championship in the Asian Games.
At the Wuxi Marathon in March this year, he finished fourth in a Chinese record, with the top three all foreign runners.
If He Jie can win the championship in the northern half of the marathon, it will be a very rewarding thing.
Many people are angry and incomprehensible about the huge expansion of the brand and the right to intervene in the event, and competitive sports are so easy to dominate?
Popularized by professionals, this kind of urban marathon is not considered a competitive sport, and commerciality is an original attribute that cannot be ignored.
All aspects of the preparation of the event have to spend money, except for the participation fees of the players, which basically rely on the capital injection of the cooperative brands.
In addition to this, there are various types of partners such as title sponsors, event sponsors, and supporters.
Mengniu, Baisuishan, UnionPay, Estee Lauder, Shokin, JD Logistics, Jihu Automobile, Kohler, United Family Hospital, etc. are impressively listed.
Not only apparel and footwear, energy drinks, nutrition and health products in the sports field, but also various categories such as beauty, technology, finance, Internet, new energy, and home decoration are also widely involved.
This shows the high degree of commercialization of the City Marathon, which is an exposure opportunity for sponsors to spend a lot of money and want to get in their pockets.
This echoes the national marathon craze in recent years, and the urban marathon has grown and has become a kind of "urban landscape" that symbolizes trendiness, vitality and deployment preparation.
Gradually moving from a niche sport to a popular sport, there is really a sense of atmosphere to make it a way of life.
Last year, there were nearly 700 marathons across the country, with a total of more than 6 million participants.
On the train and plane to and from the Twin Cities on the weekend, there are not only special forces college students, but also runners who go to various cities for events.
There are various experience exchange posts on the Internet, summarizing which cities have more downhill distances, easy to run PB (personal bests), where is suitable for a trip, and which event is the most friendly for newcomers.
The marathon is now a city business card, a cultural tourism product that can drive the economy and influence, and radiate to the whole country.
This is inextricably linked to the natural nature of the marathon, which has a low barrier to entry and welcomes all forms of participation.
First, the threshold for appreciation is low, very intuitive and objective, whoever runs in front of the line first, who is the winner, and who is more dominant in this sport.
The second is that it is carried out almost entirely in the open air, and the planned route will generally pass through urban landmarks and have good road conditions.
Spectators can watch, encourage, and watch volunteers and supply points carry out various activities along the way, which is full of interactivity and presence, comparable to discovering the city's new citywalk.
It's also important to note that you don't need to buy a ticket if you want to be a spectator.
There is no need to worry about making the decision to "take a second look", and it is almost the most civilian and open sporting event.
At the same time, these factors make the City Marathon a double-edged sword for both event organizers and sponsors.
The positive side is undoubtedly that the publicity and large traffic can make the event commercially profitable, allowing both stakeholders to work together for a win-win situation.
But the huge attention will also make anything unreasonable come to light, cause discussion between professionals and non-professionals, and it is easy for public opinion to overturn.
In fact, everyone's attitude towards sports commercialization is becoming more inclusive and open.
Commercialization is done well, the training conditions are better, the competition is more motivated, and the exposure is greater.
Using commerciality to leverage the enthusiasm for participation will help to create a good sports atmosphere for national sports and form a positive cycle.
But if it affects the fairness of the game and subverts the essence of sports, it is difficult for everyone to accept.
Sports is not only the pursuit of performance, the challenge of personal limits, and the presentation of human talents, but also a comprehensive performance of physical endurance, skills, explosiveness, flexibility, running quotient and sportsmanship.
Too many off-field factors are mixed in, which will greatly reduce the enjoyment of the whole game.
In many cases, the athlete's willpower struggle, the natural expression of the championship ambition and the rapid change on the field are the best directors.
And this is the real reason why sports attract us onlookers.