Beijing marathon bans Japanese runners from participating

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Adam Westlake in National, Sports with 8 Comments
Beijing marathon bans Japanese runners from participating

The organizers of the Beijing marathon stated on Saturday that they would not be allowing Japanese runners to participate. The marathon is scheduled to be held on Sunday, November 25th, and its website no longer lists Japan as one of the nations taking part. No official reason for the move has been listed, but members of the organizing committee in China say the decision was made with the safety of the athletes in mind.

Registration for the marathon began on Thursday of last week, and already 26,000 runners have signed up. Until this year, Japan has always been one of the nationalities available to choose from on the application. This, combined with a lack of any Japanese companies, such as Canon, sponsoring the event, and it doesn’t take much to see that this could be further aggression related to the Japan-China territorial dispute over the Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands. But maybe the organizers are just trying to keep all the athletes in mind by preventing the dispute from becoming an issue at the run. The Chinese committee members themselves said that Japanese people could still technically participate, but they would have to choose another nationality on their registration.

The Beijing marathon is not a new event by any means, as it has been held every fall since 1981. Maybe the real issue is that the organizers have become a tad jealous that the Tokyo marathon, held in February, is now recognized as the sixth major run in the world, joining the marathons in Boston, Chicago, Berlin, London, and New York.

[via Channel News Asia]
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  • Kohen223

    Reminiscent of Hitlers ban on Jewish athletes at the Berlin Olympics. Not official, just not listed officially. Racial discrimination is something that no one should stand for, and China again shows that it is not progressive in the global community to be a responsible member.

    • Shuami

      Appears you are one of those whom Obama characterized the best during his campaign–some people tend to shoot first, aim later.

  • Alex – New York

    I ran the Beijing Marathon in 2002, and it was the worst one I ever did (out of close to 100 I have done so far). A large part of the race was on a highway running between cars and buses and choking with fumes. Every 100 meters or so there was a soldier with a machine gun as if trying to catch someone cutting the corner and shoot him. And the runners with official numbers were almost beaten by police at the start trying to climb over the fence that was mounted near the starting line preventing them from the start. It is a different China now, so maybe it is better, but Japan has so many great Marathons. I have done 5 of them so far, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, and loved every one of them. So why not to enjoy them, and – to hell with China!

    • sengleong

      @ Alex-New York

      By the comments you made that you have participated in a number of major marathons and you also participated in the Beijing Marathon in 2002 and probably among others which would what I consider an international sport person. Your last comment “-to hell with China does not really reflect you as a sport person even though there exist conflict between China and Japan, as Adam Westfield had already said ” But maybe the organizers are just trying to keep all athletes in mind…………from becoming an issue at the run”(I suspect with tongue in cheek) may suggest that the organizers did take into the Japanese safety concern.

      Whether the Chinese Marathon organizers do meant it or not is open to opinion. You have the choice or participate or not to and mean comments from a sport-person like you is uncalled for.

  • sengleong

    @ Adam Westlake

    Your article sensational headline Beijing Marathon bans Japanese runner from participating is out of date. The information I heard as of 10th November 2012 was that the Japanese runners are welcome to participate. Originally I also read about the Chinese Government was toiling with the idea of stopping the Japanese runners from participating for their safety. Rightly or not this should not have happened in such an international event. Apparently the Organizer Committee had nothing to do with it and not what you have reported that the organizers have become a tad jealous that the Tokyo Marathon is now recognized as the sixth major run in the world. After all this is a Charity run and politics should not get involved. The manner you twist this saga as though it is all politics leave one wonder whether you do write articles with a balance view. My opinion that your view in this article does contribute to raising tension between the Chinese and Japanese people.

    • Shuami

      You wonder why Westlake hasn’t made the effort to update the story. Then again with the tone of story itself you wonder if the update would ever come. Propaganda is propaganda–with the globalization brought on by internet, it’s really easy to spot them.

      • sengleong

        @Shuami:disqus

        True True

  • Whirled Peas

    It’s hard to say if Beijing is uninviting Japanese runners because they are annoyed with Japan’s stance on the island dispute or if they are indeed truly concerned about the safety of Japanese runners at this time. Either way, I’m sure the marathon authorities are a bit anxious about potentially having to deal with random outbreaks of unruly behavior by even a few hot-headed people in the crowd or on the track. And it would be difficult to guarantee the participants safety. Someone I know who is Japanese very recently went to China and he said he did not feel threatened at all. He had a great time in Beijing, X’ian, and especially Shanghai, and he talked to a lot of people — through a translator. But then he is unusually sociable, friendly, and open. I hope things normalize soon.