A runner has been accused of cheating in the Cardiff Half Marathon. Sion Daniels, of Llanelli athletics club, is said to have claimed that he completed the race in one hour, seven minutes and 58 seconds.

A Run4Wales spokesperson said that a runner had given a television interview with S4C at the finish celebrating what would have been a finish in the top 30 runners and in the top three Welsh runners. But he had been far behind the leading runners at the halfway point and the organisation said the most likely explanation was that he cut out the two-mile loop of Roath Park Lake towards the end of the race.

A Run4Wales spokeswoman said: "Organisers can confirm that following an investigation, a runner taking part in Sunday’s Principality Cardiff Half Marathon has been accused of cheating. The runner, who was featured in an S4C television interview alleged that they had completed the race in 1:07:58 but did not appear in the official results because of a timing chip error. The runner submitted a GPX file from their running watch as evidence, but analysis has shown that the file is from a previous edition of the race — which followed a slightly different route.

"Analysis of the runners’ position at times of day at various points around the course also suggest it would not be possible for them to have completed the race in 67 minutes. Having been at nine miles at around 55 minutes, it looks likely that the participant cut out the two-mile loop of Roath Park Lake in the latter stages of the race. The runner has been contacted and given opportunity to respond and refute the claims, but will likely be barred from R4W events and served a ban. Details have also been passed to the governing body, Welsh Athletics."

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The time said to have been claimed by Mr Daniels would have been just seven minutes slower than first-place Vincent Mutai of Kenya, who clocked one hour and 35 seconds. Following the event Mr Daniels told S4C the event had been "tough, really hard" but that the support had been "fantastic". He added: "It gets better each year."

Sion Daniels in S4C interview
Sion Daniels on S4C

Welsh Athletics said it had been made aware of a "potential athlete breach of the competition rules" and that it would work with Run4Wales to investigate. The review will be "in line with Welsh Athletics disciplinary rules and procedures”, its spokeswoman added.