Volunteers under flak for slowing Chinese marathon runner

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The Chinese national flag is at the heart of a controversy that marred two leading runners' finish in a marathon held over the weekend in east China's Jiangsu Province.

He Yinli of China finished second in the 2018 Suzhou Taihu Marathon on Sunday in an outcome netizens blamed on two volunteers. The netizens say the volunteers blew the Chinese runner's winning chances after attempting on two occasions to hand her a Chinese national flag during the closing stage.

The athlete herself was also criticized by some as "unpatriotic" after she dropped the flag while running towards the finish line.

As He and her Ethiopian rival Ayantu Abera Demissie were neck and neck in the last leg of Sunday's race, a volunteer tried to give her a Chinese national flag. With the attempt failed, the volunteer then began to chase after the runner, before giving up.

A few moments later, He was met with another volunteer who stood in the middle of the track, forcing Demissie to slightly change her course, but succeeding in getting the Chinese runner to hold the flag.

Footage shows a volunteer stood on the track between the two runners in an attempt to hand the Chinese national flag to the Chinese athlete. /WeChat Screenshot

Many online blamed the volunteers for affecting He's rhythm, landing her second in the race.

The race's organizers said the flag-handling was the volunteers' own behavior instead of a planned move by the organizers. However, they won't hold them accountable for what happened as a result, China Youth Daily reported.

Chinese marathon runner He Yinli (L) wins the silver medal in the 2018 Suzhou Taihu Marathon, east China, on November 18, 2018. /VCG Photo

He was also under scrutiny for failing to hold onto the flag after she took it from the second volunteer.

Some netizens accused her of deliberately dropping the national flag. An improper handling of national flags can result in up to three years behind bars, according to China Daily.

However, others came to the silver medalist's defense and denounced the volunteers' behavior as unprofessional and pulling a cheap patriotic stunt.

Chinese athlete He Yinli finished five seconds behind her Ethiopian rival Ayantu Abera Demisse in the Suzhou marathon race on November 18, 2018. /VCG Photo

On Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, the athlete defended herself in a post seen 17,000 times, explaining that losing the flag wasn't her intention.

"If you haven't run a full marathon you won't know the impact it has on the athlete," Weibo user @ALIenDSs said as they expressed support for He in a comment below which garnered over 24,000 likes. /Weibo Screenshot

"The flag was soaking wet and my arms became stiff in the end, so it accidentally swung out of my hands. Please understand," she explained.