Chinese fitness influencer Abeeeer apologized after admitting to cheating when he was filmed riding a bicycle during the 2026 Berlin Marathon. The influencer, who has 530 thousand followers on social media, was on a bicycle at around the 38th kilometer of the race. The footage was shared by the Instagram account Official Marathon Time Integrity Unit (OMTIU), which examines misleading race times and was founded last year by two Australian runners. OMTIU said Abeeeer’s fastest split was recorded during the 35-40 km section, when he was riding a bicycle. The influencer had said he had achieved a “personal best” in the race.
Abeeeer announced on October 3 that he had violated the rules; he said not feeling well was no excuse and deleted his marathon posts from his RedNote account. His sponsor, Brooks China, said its checks had been inadequate, immediately ended its partnership with him and announced that it would not work with him again. OMTIU regularly exposes misleading performance posts by social media influencers based on Strava or GPS data.
Why it matters
The incident shows that personal bests and accounts of race performances shared on social media do not become reliable solely because of follower counts or digital data. This concerns not only users who follow similar content but also fitness influencers who use their performances in promotional and sponsorship relationships. The sponsor’s decision to end the partnership raised the issue of the responsibility of brands working with athletes, not only the athletes’ reputations, when verification is lacking. OMTIU’s examination of similar posts shows that GPS and Strava data can be used to assess performance, but that this data can also be presented in a misleading way. The question that remains is what checks will be used to verify race times and online performance posts.