PHNOM PENH: Top Singapore runner Soh Rui Yong finished fourth in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games’ men’s 5,000m final at the Morodok Techo National Stadium on Tuesday (May 9).
The event was won by Thailand’s Kieran Tunivate, while Philippines’ Sonny Montenegro Wagdos finished second and Indonesia’s Robi Syiantu clinched bronze.
Soh, winner of the 2015 and 2017 SEA Games marathon, is the national record holder in the event.
He clocked a time of 14:44.21 in 2021.
He is also the national record holder of the 10,000m, half marathon and marathon events.
Soh will compete in the men’s 10,000m final later this week.
In March, it was announced he would be back to represent Singapore at the SEA Games, after a successful appeal.
It has been six years since Soh competed at the regional meet.
He last featured at the 2017 Games in Malaysia, where he won gold in the marathon.
In January, Soh was not named in the Singapore National Olympic Council’s (SNOC) initial list of 517 athletes for the SEA Games.
In a statement, SNOC said the 31-year-old’s non-selection at the 2019 and 2021 SEA Games – despite him meeting qualification timings for both – was due to his behaviour over the last few years, which SNOC found to be “unacceptable and unbecoming of a national athlete”.
But in April 2022, the council and Singapore Athletics began discussions on Soh resuming his participation in major games.
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