Soh Rui Yong, 34, says he qualified for SEA Games despite being ‘too heavy, too old’, hints at KL2027 appearance

Singapore national runner Soh Rui Yong says he made it to the men's 10,000m final at the 2025 SEA Games despite being, in his own words, "too heavy, too old".

Soh had finished 7th in the event on Dec. 16, coming in with a time of 31 minutes 31.91 seconds.

"I didn't even belong on the start line"

In a Facebook post on Dec. 19, Soh said that at 67kg and 34-years-old, he had been both the oldest and the heaviest athlete in the race, describing himself as outside what sports scientists might consider ideal.

"By any body/age metric by the sports scientist “experts” or to the general observer, I didn’t even belong on the start line - too heavy, too old," he wrote.

Soh added that a week before the Games, his medical clearance was briefly delayed after routine screening flagged electrocardiogram (ECG) irregularities that required further assessment — something he said could be "a new issue possibly due to ageing".

It was previously reported that the readings showed “abnormal” heart activity with multiple premature ventricular complexes.

However, he was later medically cleared to compete.

Soh said despite the doubts, he not only qualified for the Games, but also set "a new Singapore 10,000m record this year" and finished as "the top Singapore athlete".

He ended his post with: "Write your own story. See you in two years. #KL2027."

Previous accomplishments

Soh is a two-time SEA Games marathon champion, having taken gold in both 2015 and 2017.

Earlier this month, he also competed in the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon on Dec. 6 and 7, where he claimed double championship titles and S$15,000 in winnings.

Soh won the 21km half marathon with a time of 1 hour 14 minutes and 58 seconds on Saturday, and also the 42km marathon the next day with a time of 2 hours 46 minutes and 23 seconds.

Top photos via Soh Rui Yong/Facebook and @runsohfast/Instagram