Berlin Marathon: Two Influencers Disqualified After Cheating on the Course

The Berlin Marathon was at the centre of an embarrassing episode a few days after its 27 September edition. Two participants with large social media followings were disqualified after internet users highlighted irregularities in their races. Within days, their performances had been called into question, their posts had sparked widespread reaction and one of them had lost a partnership with a sportswear brand.

Chinese influencer caught riding a bike at the 38-kilometre mark

Sun Yuanyuan, known on social media as Abeeeer, claimed a personal best at the Berlin Marathon, finishing in 4:53:46. Followed by more than 500,000 people on the Chinese platform Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, the fitness influencer had shared her race experience with her community.

But images posted by the Instagram account Official Marathon Time Integrity Unit (OMTIU), which specialises in examining suspicious running performances, quickly raised questions. They show the participant sitting on the back of a bicycle at around the 38-kilometre mark. Her split data added to the suspicions. Between kilometres 35 and 40, Sun Yuanyuan ran her fastest five-kilometre split of the race, in 30:49. That acceleration was particularly unusual compared with her previous splits.

On 3 October, the influencer finally admitted that she had broken the rules and publicly apologised. She said she had felt unwell during the race, while acknowledging that this did not justify her actions. She also admitted deliberately leaving the episode out when recounting her marathon. The consequences were swift. Brooks China, which supplied her with kit as part of their partnership, announced on 4 October that it was ending the collaboration. The brand also acknowledged that it had not sufficiently checked the circumstances in which the race was completed, particularly the intermediate splits.

Belgian influencer allegedly cut almost 10 kilometres

That was not the end of the matter. A second participant, Belgian influencer Ginger Jesson-Macduff, was also disqualified after her route was reviewed. According to the German press, the sports influencer allegedly left the official course at around the 22-kilometre mark in the Rathaus Schöneberg area, before rejoining the race roughly ten kilometres later near Nollendorfplatz. Her GPS watch reportedly recorded a total distance of 31.22 km, well short of the official 42.195 km. More damning still, she captioned her Strava post “Berlin marathon (shortcut)”.

After the race, she also shared a photo of herself with her finisher medal. The post has since been deleted. According to German outlet B.Z., she said she had suffered abdominal pain during the race and acknowledged that she should not have presented herself as having completed the marathon. Her result now appears as disqualified in the official standings.

Are social media becoming running’s new referees?

These two cases highlight the growing role of running communities in verifying performances posted online. The OMTIU account, created by two Australian runners, focuses in particular on suspicious results, inconsistent splits and discrepancies between claimed performances and the available data. In both Berlin cases, images, GPS traces and split times brought to light evidence that was difficult to reconcile with completing the full course on foot.

Berlin Marathon organiser SCC Events said that reports were being reviewed and that participants whose violations were substantiated could be disqualified, with further sanctions possible depending on the circumstances.

Beyond the controversy, these episodes are a reminder of a fundamental principle of road racing. A marathon is more than a time posted on social media or a medal held up in a photo. Performance depends on following a course and rules shared by every participant. In Berlin, two influencers have just paid the price, facing sporting, public and, in Sun Yuanyuan’s case, commercial consequences.