The just-concluded 2024 Beijing Half Marathon is full of turmoil. Before the game, Jia Orenga was disqualified due to the identity of a competitor brand signing player, and He Jie's victory after the game was questioned as a "guarantee". At present, the Organizing Committee of the North Half Malaysia has set up an investigation team to carry out an investigation.
In recent years, domestic marathons have blossomed everywhere and gradually become commercialized, followed by frequent chaos. The professionalism of the organizers and the fairness of the event have been repeatedly questioned, which is the heart and soul of a high-quality marathon. (Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point Breaking News Tel: 0531-85193656; E-mail: [email protected])
He Jie won the championship and was questioned about "escorting" the source network
"Escort" the sportsmanship at the feet of the championBefore and after the event, the official Weibo of the Northern Half Marathon released a statement of the situation.
Before the game, it was explained that Jia Oringa's disqualification was due to the fact that he was a contestant signed by the organizing committee for competing brands. After the game, an investigation team was set up to investigate the men's champion He Jie being questioned about "escorting".
It can be seen from the sprint video of the event that He Jie, who is wearing a red uniform, and the three foreign players are almost neck and neck. Towards the finish line, the three foreign runners looked at He Jie several times and waved their hands. Many netizens believe that the foreign runners deliberately slowed down the sprint speed and waited for He Jie, and finally lost to He Jie by 0.01 seconds.
It is worth noting that the four runners were all wearing Xtep brand clothing, and Xtep was one of the sponsors of the event. At the same time, He Jie is a contracted athlete of the Xtep brand.
Combined with the fact that the brand spokesperson Jia Orenga was disqualified due to competing products before the game, public opinion on the Internet was surging, and while questioning the brand's "escort" He Jie, he was also questioning the sportsmanship being "trampled".
The business behind the City MarathonAs a competitive sport, the marathon should be an equal and fair race, which is also the core value of the marathon spirit.
According to the consensus of the road running industry, the vigorous development of marathons in China began in 2014, when a total of 51 marathons were held across the country. In recent years, marathon events have been blowing out in China, and the enthusiasm of the people to participate is high. By 2019, the number of marathons nationwide had surged to 1,828.
The "Road Running Work Report of the Chinese Athletics Association" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") released on March 22 this year mentioned that in 2023, a total of 699 road running events with more than 800 people will be held across the country, with a total of 6.0519 million participants. By the end of 2023, at least 2.5 million people across the country have completed a half marathon or full marathon.
The Chinese Athletics Association estimates that by 2025, the number of domestic road runs and related sports events is expected to increase to 2,500, and the number of participants in the mass marathon will increase to 10 million.
Image source network
According to the report, a total of 31 provincial-level administrative regions will hold certified events in 2023. Why are more and more cities competing to host marathons? There's a business behind that.
Recently, Yuan Weiqiang, deputy director of the Wuxi Sports Bureau of Jiangsu Province, mentioned in an interview that 72% of the runners in the 2024 Wuxi Marathon are from outside Wuxi. These people have brought popularity and boosted consumption to the city of Wuxi.
Some securities companies predict that the marathon economy will reach 50 billion in 2025, and the scale of marathon derivatives will exceed 400 billion in the future.
In addition to direct income such as registration fees, sponsorship fees, broadcast fees, and advertising fees, road running events can also bring indirect income from transportation, accommodation, catering, and tourism to the local area.
It is reported that before and after the Chengdu Marathon was held on October 29, 2023, relevant data showed that from October 27 to October 29, 2023, the number of accommodation bookings in Chengdu increased by 100% compared with the same period last year, the number of air ticket bookings to Chengdu increased by 20% compared with the previous weekend, and the number of hotel bookings increased by 20% compared with the previous weekend.
Regulation and fairness after chaos breedsMore and more cities are hosting sports events and events, turning event traffic into consumption "energy" and economic "increment". However, with the rapid growth of the number of marathon events, various chaos occurs frequently.
On November 18, 2018, at the Taihu Lake Marathon, in the sprint stage, Chinese runner He Yinli was forcibly stuffed with the national flag in her hands twice in a row by volunteers, disrupting the rhythm and losing the championship.
On October 15, 2023, at the end of the Dalian Marathon, Chinese runner Yin Shunjin was blocked by a guide car in the sprint stage, resulting in a failure to win the championship.
The runner was blocked by a car during the sprint Source: Network
At another marathon event held on the same day, there were insufficient on-site supplies, insufficient personnel diversion, and long queues to receive medals...... Even a situation where a runner shouts "return the money".
There are also many marathon events that have been resold and substituted.
The most deplorable was the mountain marathon held in Baiyin, Gansu Province on May 22, 2021, during which 21 runners were killed and 8 were injured.
All kinds of chaos have exposed the potential safety hazards and competition organization problems in the marathon.
The report mentions that the current road running work is facing a number of problems and challenges, including the contradiction between the rapid development of the event and the safe running of the event, the event supervision system needs to be further improved, and the professionalism of the event organization needs to be greatly improved.
In order to comprehensively promote the high-quality development of the road running industry, it is necessary to improve the system construction, standardize the organization of the event, continue to strengthen supervision, increase industry training, strengthen the level of medical and safety guarantee for the event, and optimize the publicity and education system. Among them, from July 2023, a third-party event evaluation agency will be introduced, aiming to establish evaluation standards that are in line with the current development of road running, so as to improve the level of the event.
Previously, on October 19, 2023, the Chinese Athletics Association also issued the "Emergency Notice of the Chinese Athletics Association on Further Strengthening the Organization of National Road Running Events", requiring that in case of event emergencies and major situations, the supervision unit, the event organizing committee and the competition supervisor must report in a timely manner. At the same time, it emphasizes the strengthening of the responsibilities of all parties involved in the organization of the event, and requires the regulatory units at all levels to establish and improve the supervision mechanism of the event.
Some industry insiders said that the marathon events that are now blooming everywhere have become a way to promote the image of many cities. However, only if it is professional and competent, can it be called a high-quality marathon. Marathons can be commercialized, but only if they are fair, because that's the essence of competitive sports.
News clue reporting channel: download the "Qilu One Point" APP from the application market, or search for the WeChat applet "Qilu One Point", and 800 reporters in the province are waiting for you to report online!