Photo: Courtesy of organizers

China's marathon runner He Jie won the 2024 Beijing Half Marathon on Sunday with a time of 1:03:44. He was just one second ahead of Ethiopian Dejene Hailu Bikila, and Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, who tied for the second place. 

He revealed after the race that he was satisfied with his smooth completion and considered the event a high-quality training session in preparation for the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

"I have never participated in a half marathon before, so this time I wanted to set a personal best [performance]," He told reporters after the race. 

"I just finished the Wuxi Marathon not long ago, so I was not in my best competitive state. If I had been in the same condition as during the Wuxi race, I believe my performance would have been better," He said, referring to his achievement of setting a national record at a 42.195-kilometer marathon with a time of 2:06:57 in March in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu Province.

The current Chinese men's half marathon record stands at 1:01:58, set by Zhaxi Ciren in February this year. 

Photo: Courtesy of organizers

But He's performance in the final stage drew skeptism as the three African runners seemed deliberately slowed down for He to catch up. As of press time, the organizers haven't addressed the issue.

Though He's result in Beijing is still far from a national record, the result was enough to make him the best domestic runner at the Beijing Half Marathon, as he was among the leading group with the African trio throughout the half marathon race.

Regarded as one of China's finest male marathon runners, He has shattered the national marathon record twice in the last two years. 

Although He contemplated breaking the national half marathon record before the Beijing race on Sunday, he revealed that he battled illness following the Wuxi race that hampered his efforts. 

He revealed that after completing the first five kilometers during Sunday's race, he realized that maintaining the record-breaking pace was unrealistic given his condition, thus he opted to prioritize finishing the race smoothly.

His previous appearance in Beijing was at the 2022 Beijing Marathon, where he secured third place in the men's race with a time of 2:21:26.

He has set his sights on the Paris Olympics, which will be held from July 26 to August 11.

"Now I am fully preparing for the Paris Olympics; please believe in Chinese athletes. I hope to showcase Chinese speed in Paris and let the world see the Chinese speed," He said.

Chinese runner Li Chunhui was the fifth man to cross the finish line but was awarded a bronze medal. Female runner Liu Min defended her title with a time of 1:11:12.

The half marathon, the history of which can be traced back to 1956, received nearly 98,000 applications for the 20,000-berth race this year.