Abeeeer told her 530,000 followers she had run a personal best at the Berlin Marathon.
A photo of her sitting on the back of a bicycle near the 38km mark suggests the final stretch went quicker than her legs alone could manage.
The Chinese fitness influencer has now admitted breaking race rules and hiding the ride from her audience.
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Her sponsor has already walked.
The fastest 5km of her race
The image began circulating online soon after the race on 27 September.
Then people looked at her splits.
Abeeeer covered 35km to 40km in 30 minutes and 49 seconds, her quickest five-kilometre section of the entire marathon.
That was more than six minutes faster than her 30km to 35km split, according to Creatorzine.
It also happened to cover the exact stretch where someone photographed her on the bike.
She crossed the line in 4:53:46 and posted about the personal best.
Marathon runners do sometimes find a second wind late in a race. Usually it doesn’t have pedals.
Her first explanation
Before the apology came the story.
Abeeeer said she fell ill around 38km, vomited and fell, and thought about pulling out.
She claimed she climbed onto a friend’s bicycle to find a race official so she could withdraw.
Someone then told her only about 4km remained and a personal best was still within reach.
So she went back to the spot where she had got on the bike and carried on running.
She insisted she had not skipped any part of the course.
“I make no excuses”
That version didn’t last a week. On 3 October, Abeeeer posted a full apology.
“Regarding my actions of riding a bicycle during the Berlin Marathon, I did indeed violate the race rules, and I make no excuses or defence for what I did,” she wrote.
She also admitted she had deliberately kept the bike ride from her followers.
“This was extremely dishonest,” she said.
“Even if I was experiencing physical discomfort during the race, that absolutely should not have been a reason for me to break the rules.”
Her marathon posts have since disappeared from her account.
Brooks China cuts ties
A day later, on 4 October, sponsor Brooks China announced it had ended its relationship with Abeeeer and would “never work with her again”.
The running brand also apologised for failing to properly scrutinise her race data and participation.
That’s an unusual admission from a sponsor, and probably not the last time a marketing team quietly opens Strava before signing anyone.
Race organisers could also punish her, though they had announced no sanction as of 4 October.
Why it matters
Fitness creators sell credibility.
Followers buy the shoes, the plans and the supplements because they believe the times are real.
One photo and a single split undid that for Abeeeer, and Brooks China’s apology shows brands now carry some of the blame when they don’t check.
Expect sponsors to start asking for race data before they ask for content.
A familiar story
Marathon cheating scandals are nothing new, but public timing data and thousands of spectator phones make them far easier to catch.
Amateur sleuths now pick apart splits within hours of a finish.
What happens next
The race organisers still have to decide what to do with that 4:53:46.
Whether her followers forgive her may matter more.
Abeeeer built her audience on running, and right now she has no marathon posts left to show them.
