Chinese runner Sun Yuanyuan dropped by Brooks after bike ride in Berlin Marathon

Chinese fitness influencer Sun Yuanyuan has been dropped by running shoe company Brooks after she apologised for riding a bicycle during the Berlin Marathon, according to the BBC. Sun, known as Abeeeer on Chinese social media, had claimed a personal best at the event, which the BBC reported was held in September. Brooks said it ended its sponsorship deal with her, and the marathon organisers disqualified her finish time.

The BBC reported that an Instagram account calling itself the Official Marathon Time Integrity Unit (OMTIU) posted a picture which appeared to show Sun on a bicycle between the 35km and 40km marks. The account also posted a grid of Sun's "splits", the times taken to complete each 5km segment of the race, which appeared to show she sped up between the 35km and 40km marks. According to the BBC, OMTIU posted a photo of Sun apparently on the back of a bike being ridden by another person.

Sun posted an apology on the Chinese social media platform Rednote, which OMTIU shared. She wrote: "I won't make any excuses for this behaviour." She said she was "feeling physically unwell on the course", adding that this was "absolutely not an excuse for breaking the rules". Sun also said she "deliberately concealed" her actions and that she felt "deeply guilty about this".

A Brooks company statement said: "Brooks believes running should be grounded in integrity, fairness, and respect for competition." The statement added: "After verifying the facts, Brooks China terminated its relationship with the individual and publicly addressed the matter."

The BBC reported that OMTIU was set up to highlight "the growing trend of GPS-based fabrication, selective Strava displays and false PR claims" among marathon runners, particularly fitness influencers. Strava is a fitness tracking app. The page's mission statement says: "We exist to protect the integrity of the sport by ensuring that the times athletes share publicly reflect the times they actually ran."