SINGAPORE — National marathoner Soh Rui Yong has been given a boost ahead of his qualifying campaign 
towards the 2016 Olympics, with Japanese sports equipment company ASICS coming in as his latest sponsor. The 26-year-old announced on his Facebook page yesterday that he has signed a five-year deal with ASICS, and will receive shoes from the brand as part of the deal.

Soh, who has been fighting against plantar fasciitis — an injury that causes pain in the heel and at the bottom of the foot — said that he found that ASICS shoes provide him with the most support in his runs as he copes with the injury.

“I began suffering from plantar fasciitis in November, which severely limited the level I could train at,” said the 2015 South-east Asian Games marathon champion. “Over the past few months, I have been experimenting with different types of shoes that could help with this issue.

“I found that ASICS Gel-Kayano proved to be the one shoe that allowed me to resume my old training load … I must make choices that further my athletic performance, and choosing ASICS shoes will allow me to both train and race at a higher level.”

Soh is targeting the London Marathon on April 24 as the meet where he will try to qualify for the Rio Olympics in August. He needs to shave about 7min off his personal best of 2hr 26min 1s to meet the 2016 Olympics marathon qualifying time of 2hr 19min.

“I am training hard to make the Olympics this year, but even if I make it, it’s unlikely I will place particularly high given the (short) timeframe,” Soh told TODAY.

“In 2020, however, I will hopefully have by then almost five years of full-time training under my belt, and that will put me in a position to make a bigger impact at the Olympics and against the best in the world.

“The support from ASICS is both vital and symbolic as I train to peak for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.” ADELENE WONG