Singapore marathon record re-appears at SEA Games
Soh was not originally named when the Singapore Olympic Committee (SNOC) announced the list of 517 athletes for the 32nd SEA Games in January. But earlier this week, he was updated to the above list and staffed in the 5,000m running team and 10,000m.
The change comes after the decision of the SNOC to remove the ban from playing with the running foot born in 1991 over the weekend.
Soh has been the biggest name in Singapore athletics for nearly a decade. He currently holds the national record for marathon distances with a parameter of 2 hours 22 minutes 59 seconds, half marathon (1 hour 6 minutes 46 seconds), 10,000m (31 minutes 12.05 seconds) and 5,000m (14 minutes 44 seconds). 21 seconds). Soh is also the owner of Singapore's two nearest SEA Games marathon gold medals when he won the races in 2015 and 2017.
But this runner was not allowed to attend the two SEA Games in the Philippines 2019 and Vietnam 2022 and the Asian Games 2018 in Indonesia under SNOC's international ban from 2017. At that time, while attending the 29th SEA Games in Malaysia, Soh disagreed with the SNOC because of the rule "prohibiting athletes from arbitrarily using their names in marketing and advertising activities". He later made statements that the SNOC described as "unacceptable, unworthy of the status of a national player".
However, from April 2022, the SNOC began to consider expunging Soh's sentence after he publicly apologized and offered to continue to contribute to Singapore's sports. In October 2022, Soh apologized for the second time and emphasized his desire to compete in the national track and field team's shirt.
"Following their meeting earlier this week, the SNOC Complaints Subcommittee was pleased with Soh's repentance, and therefore authorized the Singapore Athletics Federation to add him to the squad for the 2023 SEA Games if the athlete met the criteria. SNOC hopes Soh will continue to work hard to show a positive change to make up for the losses he has caused," reads the SNOC's statement about the acquittal of Soh.
