When rules are rules

Sports not only build character but, more importantly, reveal it.

Just recently, news of the disqualification of Chinese runner He Jie hogged the headlines after he supposedly “won” the Beijing Half Marathon.

What caught media’s attention was the video clip of He struggling towards the finish line while two Kenyans and one Ethiopian runner who were running with him appeared to be giving way so he could finish first.

Indeed, the African runners were running so effortlessly in contrast to He who was heavily panting and looked like he was in a lot of pain. Clearly, any of the three could have easily overtaken He and won the race.

He was handed the gold medal but controversy immediately erupted after the race.

Spectators began accusing the group of rigging the results while others were pointing out that the three Africans were obviously He’s pacers.

Indeed, there are races that allow pacers or pacemakers, the runners who are not there to compete but to help a runner, usually an elite athlete, maintain a certain target pace. What was strange though was the supposed pacers had the exact same type of bib as He, instead of donning pacer bibs.

Immediately, I concluded that maybe the intention was for the three Africans to pace He, but this was not a race that allowed pacers because of the regular bibs worn. Consequently, it was improper for the three Africans not to compete or allow He to run ahead of them.

After investigation by the organizers, all four runners were disqualified and He’s win was revoked.

There may not have been any intention to “cheat,” but cheat, they did.

Contrast this with an incident that happened last week in a local mountain trail race.

Young athlete, Jacob Madalang, from Sagada, Mountain Province was the first to finish the 100-mile or 161-kilometer race with a finish time of one day, seven hours and 40 minutes. The next fastest runner finished the race more than two hours later so there could have been no dispute as to who won.

Except for one important detail.

Because of the heat, Madalang took off his shirt at one point in the race, which was apparently prohibited by the race rules. As a result of the violation, Madalang was disqualified — a decision he readily accepted, admitting that he didn’t read the fine print in the race rules.

It was a commendable gesture on the part of Madalang.

But do we really have to dura lex sed lex everything? Unlike the case of He where it was clear that he wasn’t the fastest runner, Madalang’s race rule violation was not at all a factor in him winning the race. A less severe penalty would have been more commensurate.

Still, the race organizer honored Madalang’s achievement and praised him for willingly accepting the verdict. Madalang likewise earned praises from netizens for his sportsmanship.

Indeed, this is what makes Madalang’s story inspiring.

In a sea of athletes who are willing to bend or deviate a little from the rules if it would give them even a slight advantage, Madalang exhibited not just a good nature, but integrity.

Just a couple of weeks before, a similar incident happened at the Orange County Marathon in California.

The supposed race winner, Esteban Prado, who finished the marathon in two hours and 24 minutes, was disqualified because he accepted water from his Dad along the race route.

According to the race rules, runners could only get water from official hydration stations and since he received water at an unauthorized part of the race, he was stripped of his medal.

In this case, the unauthorized assistance can arguably be taken as having given Prado a slight advantage. The level of thirst or dehydration of the runner can certainly affect his performance.

Unlike Madalang though who humbly conceded his win, Prado insisted he had won when interviewed by the press.

The difference in reactions reveal character. As C.S. Lewis said, integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.

And — if I may add — even if it means relinquishing a clear victory.