Marathon bib mishap can tarnish Hong Kong's reputation
Five times this century Hong Kong has been chosen to host the Asian Marathon Championships in conjunction with the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, such is the regard in which the latter event is held.
That puts it up there with the famous Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament in flying the city's flag abroad.
A reminder is to be found in the turnout of 74,000 runners in Sunday's Hong Kong marathon events, comparable with last year when the Asian championships coincided.
Amid intense competition between world cities to recover from the pandemic downturn, the Hong Kong marathon is a precious asset. There is more at stake than prize money. The city can ill-afford adverse reflections on its organisation or integrity.
It came as a shock when officials disqualified four mainland Chinese runners in Sunday's races, including the winner and runner-up in the half-marathon, for wearing bibs that did not match their identities.
The event organiser, the Hong Kong, China Association of Athletics Affiliates, says an inquiry has since established that a manager representing the four runners mistakenly gave them the wrong bibs or number tags, and that the athletes did not intentionally swap them.
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