Chinese marathon runner He Yinli competes on Sunday in the Suzhou Taihu Marathon. She placed second behind Ayantu Abera de Misse of Kenya. (Photo: IC)

The organizer of the Suzhou Taihu Marathon on Tuesday argued the convention of passing national flags to runners was simply a way to welcome Chinese athletes, but race participants and sports promoters called for professional organization and regulation. 
Wisdom Sports Group, the organizer and promoter of the Sunday marathon, was blamed for asking volunteers to pass a national flag to Chinese runner He Yinli in the final sprint phase. As a result, He was distracted and lost the possible gold medal.
While some charged He of dropping the national flag, most netizens challenged the arrangement of handing a flag to a struggling runner in an endurance competition just to attract her attention before hitting the finish line.
The incident incited both amateur runners and industry insiders to call for professional organization amid China's marathon fever. 
Tian Xiangning from Beijing, an amateur runner with five years' experience in the sport, denounced the flag-sending as a "betrayal of marathon spirit." 
Passing the national flag to leading Chinese runners is a convention of "Run China" serial marathons that started in March of 2017, but is not typical of all marathons in China, noted Liu Xiaolei, founder and CEO of Beijing Rapid Sport, a company that specializes in organizing running events and sports tourism.
Liu said that the marathon market in China is enormous and promising with an estimated 1,600 to 1,800 races taking place in 2018, up 50 percent from last year. 
Back in 2010, only 13 marathons were registered at the Chinese Athletic Association (CAA). The boom started from 2015 when CAA canceled the compulsory registration of marathons and sporting event organizers and marketing companies swarmed into the market, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 
Famous competitions like the Beijing and Shanghai international marathons are usually better organized, but some small races even fail to provide enough resources and facilities for runners or set up the supplier points unreasonably, which will impact the final times, Tian said.
Tian also recalled the running route being changed just days before the race started because the original route, which cut into busy roads, might cause traffic chaos. 
From 2015 to 2017, at least 14 sudden deaths were triggered by a marathon race, CNR reported.  
 "With the trend of popularizing sports among ordinary people, organizers should improve their operation and respect the rules on holding marathons issued by the CAA," Liu said, noting it is organizers' responsibility to serve the runners with food, water and medical backup.