Marathon bib swaps spur calls for stricter penalties, monitoring

Marcus Lum

A sports scholar has sharply criticized the bib swaps that occurred during the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon on Sunday, labeling them as "mistakes that even primary school track meets wouldn't make."

The criticism follows the disqualification of three mainland runners - He Yingbing and Sun Xiaoyang in the half-marathon, and Lan Jiehuai in the men's 10-kilometer race - who were found wearing incorrect bib numbers.

Patrick Lau Wing-chung, chairman of the Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health at Baptist University, said that intentional violations by runners should lead to strict penalties.

He added that such incidents have previously been reported in the mainland, where athletes sought to enhance their scores or influencers aimed to boost their visibility.

Lau urged the Hong Kong, China Association of Athletics Affiliates to clearly state that tampering is unacceptable.

While the runners might have received incorrect bib numbers from their agent, they bear responsibility for ensuring accuracy, he said.

The incident came to light only after the awards ceremony, highlighting that such errors are uncommon in local events.

Lau proposed implementing facial recognition technology at the marathon to deter future violations, a move supported by lawmaker Benson Luk Hon-man.

Luk who participated in the marathon, noted that such errors are rare.

"The bibs definitely have the runners' names on them; wearing the correct bib is the runner's responsibility. It's particularly puzzling that the involved runners are elite athletes," he said.

marcus.lum@singtaonewscorp.com