Strava wipes 4.45 million activities in hunt against cheats

Strava has removed 4.45 million activities from its platform in a bid to improve the integrity of its leaderboards.

In an update issued this week, the company said the deleted activities had been uploaded with the “wrong sport type” or “recorded in vehicles”. The move comes as part of a concerted effort on the exercise tracking app to stop users unfairly taking KOM and QOM crowns.

Strava revealed in February that it was using machine learning to analyse activities, taking into account “57 factors” such as speed and acceleration, and clamping down on cheats.

“As part of Strava’s ongoing efforts to uphold fair and legitimate leaderboards, the company is continuing to advance the application of its machine learning model to reprocess the top 10 spots on ride and run leaderboards,” a new update read.

“This effort has removed 4.45 million activities with the wrong sport type or recorded in vehicles so far, helping to rightfully restore KOMs and QOMs to reflect true performances.”

Strava users collect crowns, known as KOMs and QOMs, for posting the fastest times on segments. The company’s new machine learning model is built to flag suspicious activities, prompting the user to either remove them or make them private.

Other users are also encouraged to flag activities if they believe the performance is not credible.

Strava’s rules specifically state that users should not upload public ‘ride’ activities, which appear on leaderboards, if they include data recorded in a car or motorcycle, using an e-bike, or pacing a vehicle.

According to the company’s February update, users are flagging 72% fewer activities as suspected to have been carried out “in a vehicle” since the machine learning system rolled out.

Also this week, Strava announced further updates to its subscriber offering, including new AI-powered route tools, ‘tappable’ points of interest – such as cafés and toilets – and point-to-point routing, helping users plot direct routes from A to B.

The company also announced on Thursday that it has acquired the cycling training app The Breakaway. “This announcement is another signal of Strava’s accelerated growth and commitment to innovation,” a press release read.

The exercise app is used today by more than 150 million people around the world.