China: Man Unjustly Disqualified from Marathon for Smoking After Finishing with a Good Time

 

Three hours and 33 minutes is a really good time for someone who is 52.

Smoking is not unhealthy. It’s certainly not as unhealthy as running a marathon.

This was in Xiamen and Hokkien has even more feminism than Shanghai. I guarantee you this marathon was administered by women.

All men think this guy is a hero.

RT:

A 52-year-old athlete who chain-smoked his way through an entire marathon in China has been retroactively disqualified after race organizers determined his actions breached rules governing “uncivilized behavior.”

The cigarette enthusiast, identified in media reports as ‘Uncle Chen’, completed the Xiamen marathon on January 7 in a very respectable three hours and 33 minutes.

His feat became all the more remarkable after video footage from the race showed Chen puffing on cigarettes as he navigated the 26.2 mile course en route to place 574th out of more than 1,500 competitors.

However, the images – which quickly went viral online – appear to have led to Chen’s downfall and subsequent disqualification. It was determined by race organizers that his actions during the event violated rules governing “uncivilized behavior,” which prohibits runners from an array of activities – from defecating on the track to trampling flower beds.

Come on.

Smoking is not public defecation.

“Uncivilized behavior from runners such as open defecation, smoking, or trampling on flower beds or green spaces that affect the race and the safety of other runners will result in disqualification,” article 2.12 of the Xiamen Marathon rules says.

The rule was implemented last year by the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA) as part of an effort to help promote healthy competition in Chinese society and to discourage smoking during athletic activities.

Chen, who has earned the nickname ‘Smoking Brother’, has previously garnered attention due to his tobacco habit, with photos of him smoking during the Guangzhou Marathon also appearing online. He completed that race in a time of three hours and 35 minutes – three minutes slower than his time in Xiamen earlier this month.

Yeah, and he didn’t get disqualified from that one. Presumably, because it wasn’t run by women.

In fact, he’s been doing this for years.

Uncle Chen is a hero, proving once again that the anti-smoking movement is a conspiracy by women who just want to take away everything that men enjoy out of spite.

That said: marathons are legitimately unhealthy, and I don’t recommend anyone take part in them under any circumstances.