Social media influencer Liao Xingxing has been permanently banned from the Meishan Renshou Half Marathon in China after being caught using a fake race bib during the event in Sichuan.
Liao completed the half marathon on Feb 23 without being noticed, but a viral video that surfaced two days later on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, exposed her. The video showed two runners wearing the same bib number, C4567, and the social media influencer, who wore a pink top and blue pants, was identified as one of the runners. This sparked suspicions that she was using a fake bib. The controversy quickly escalated because Liao is a well-known sports influencer with 15,000 followers.
Deceived by an anti-fan
With this, Liao explained that she had received the race bib from a follower and did not realize it was a duplicate. She also insisted that she had been deceived by an anti-fan, whom she believed had deliberately orchestrated the situation to harm her reputation. She emphasized, as reported by VCT News that she had no knowledge of the fake bib and was taken aback when the scandal was uncovered, claiming that she was the victim of a malicious plot.
However, the Meishan Renshou Half Marathon organisers dismissed Liao’s explanation, claiming that she had printed the bib herself. As a result, they imposed a lifetime ban on her participation in the event and reported the incident to the Chinese Athletics Federation (CAF), which could impose additional penalties.
As a result of the backlash, Liao locked her social media accounts and removed all posts related to the race.
The Meishan Renshou Half Marathon is China’s first Platinum Label event recognized by World Athletics and was selected by the Chinese Athletics Federation (CAF) as the national championship. The race is highly competitive, with more than 150,000 applicants competing for a limited number of spots, leading to an acceptance rate of less than 10%.
Moreover, Bib-related controversies have become a growing issue in Chinese marathon events. For instance, at the 2025 Hong Kong Marathon, three Chinese runners– including the top two finishers in the men’s half marathon– were disqualified for wearing counterfeit bibs.