// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Chinese runner dropped by sponsor after riding bike during marathon
The influencer was seen riding a bike during the Berlin Marathon, which took place at the end of September
A Chinese fitness influencer has been dropped by her sponsor after she apologised for riding a bicycle during the Berlin marathon.
Sun Yuanyuan, known as Abeeeer on Chinese social media, had claimed a personal best during the event which was held in September.
But an Instagram page dedicated to monitoring inaccurate or misleading race times posted by influencers published a picture which appeared to show Sun on a bicycle between the 35km and and 40km marks.
Sun apologised and admitted to "breaking the rules". Brooks, the running shoe company, has ended its sponsorship deal with her and her finish time has been disqualified by the marathon organisers.
An Instagram account calling itself the Official Marathon Time Integrity Unit (OMTIU) posted a photo of Sun apparently on the back of a bike being ridden by another person during the marathon.
The page also posted a grid of Sun's "splits" - which are the times taken to complete different 5km segments of the race.
The grid appears to show that she sped up between the 35 and 40km marks, when she was allegedly on the bike.
Sun posted an apology on the Chinese social media platform Rednote, which was shared by OMTIU, admitting that she had broken the rules.
She wrote: "I won't make any excuses for this behaviour.