SINGAPORE — Singapore runner Soh Rui Yong’s dispute of teammate Ashley Liew’s act of sportsmanship at the 2015 SEA Games men’s marathon final has ignited a heated debate among the public and fraternity since his revelations last Sunday (Oct 21), and he is not backing down from his claim.

In a Facebook post on Friday, the SEA Games champion said that he spoke up only after three years to “reveal the truth” because he thought at the time that it “wasn’t a big deal”.

He decided to “let it go” if it helped Liew feel better after a disappointing race.

However, Soh had not expected the story to “snowball into two sportsmanship medals”, particularly “without the attempt to gather further evidence” in the form of videos, and testimonies from other athletes in that race.

“My one and only regret is not speaking up sooner,” said Soh.

At the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, Liew suddenly found himself leading the 12-strong field in the marathon final by about 50m after his rivals missed a U-turn and took the wrong path. He said then that he slowed down to almost a crawl in order to wait for them to catch up.

Soh eventually won the gold medal in 2hr 34min 56sec, while Thailand’s Srisung Boonthung and Hoang Nguyen Thanh of Vietnam finished second and third respectively.

Liew finished eighth.

His act of sportsmanship was widely publicised and earned him praise from many people, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

In 2016, he was given a special award for sportsmanship by the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), and was also awarded the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy by the International Fair Play Committee (CIFP).

However, this account was disputed by teammate Soh on Sunday, who alleged that the “story is untrue”. The 27-year-old had posted the comment in response to a CIFP Facebook post on Liew’s act of sportsmanship.

He said that Liew, now 31, did not stop or slow down for his rivals, and that there was no evidence of the act in question, apart from “Ashley’s own claim”. Soh’s account was backed up by Filipino runner Rafael Poliquit — one of the 12 runners in the race — and three witnesses, two of whom had previously coached Soh.

Soh said in his Facebook post on Friday that when he first saw this “slowing down to wait in the name of sportsmanship” claim after the SEA Games, he “knew immediately that it was untrue”.

“I was right there in the race as one of the affected parties, and saw for a fact that nobody slowed down to wait for anyone else after that fateful wrong turn,” he added.

In a statement on Sunday, Liew’s athlete management team, ONEathlete Team, said the allegations have “no material basis”, and questioned the runner’s motives, noting that this is not the first time that Soh has adopted a “controversial and provocative stance towards fellow athletes”.

The SNOC, which nominated Liew for the award, also stood by its decision in a statement on Sunday.

Soh’s claims have sparked off a debate online, with some asking why Soh had not spoken up earlier.

In response, he said no one from the media or any of the sports officials had asked him about the incident.

He added that he had not expected the story to be “brought up over and over again” as a tool to teach students and coaches about sportsmanship, and he felt “guilt-stricken” about it.

“My conscience pricked whenever this issue was brought up and I was reminded that I knew the truth, but had chosen to say nothing about it,” he said.

“Speak to any of the eye witnesses that have come forth to tell what they saw since I spoke out, and they will tell you the same — they didn't speak out earlier because nobody asked them.”

Soh, who won the marathon gold in the SEA Games in 2015 and 2017, added: “I'm all for sportsmanship, but it must be true. Some might label me a ‘s**** stirrer’ for contradicting a feel-good story, but my answer to that is that I stand for the truth.”