Australian duo expose Chinese runner's bike-assisted marathon cheat

Sun Yuanyuan, a Chinese running influencer known as Abeeeer, announced a marathon personal record of 4:53:46 after completing the Berlin Marathon. However, images captured at roughly kilometer 38 show her perched on a bicycle’s rear rack, a point where her pace suddenly improved by six minutes compared with the earlier segment. The two Australians behind the Official Marathon Time Integrity Unit, a Instagram account that tracks and publicises suspected timing fraud, posted Sun’s case on 1 October.

Following the exposure, Sun issued an apology, acknowledging that riding the bike violated race rules and that she had concealed the incident. Brooks China withdrew from any further collaboration with her. The duo, who launched the account in October 2025 to challenge embellished influencer times, have already identified dozens of other suspected manipulations, including a New Zealand runner who altered his Strava data.