Soh Rui Yong: ST ‘really did me dirty’ with headline that said he was ‘Partying to new record’

The Straits Times gave champion runner Soh Rui Yong what could be seen to be a backhanded compliment with a headline to a June 19 article in its print edition that read, “Partying to new record”.

The article’s subhead reads, “Soh breaks his own national 10,000m mark despite ‘a lot of late nights’ out after exams.” The runner posted a screenshot of the article, tagging the newspaper and adding “Wow The Straits Times really did me dirty with that headline. #RoleModel”

However, the title of the article in the online edition is more neutral, and reads, “Athletics: Soh back on track after struggles, lowers own national 10,000m record.”

The heading about “a lot of late nights out” is also absent from the online piece.

Soh, the holder of four national records: 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, half-marathon, and marathon; as well as Singapore’s first back-to-back SEA Games champion marathoner, had beat his own national record in the 10,000 meters at the Waltham Forest Feel Good Centre in London by almost four seconds on Friday evening (June 17).

He beat his previous time of 31:15.95, which had been set in 2014, with a new time of 31 min 12.05 sec, finishing tenth in the race, which was won by Britain’s Charlie Brisley.

Brisley’s winning time was 29:54.36.

To be fair, Soh, who is studying law at University College London, admitted to The Straits Times that he’s had an active social life to relieve the stress from his studies, which “mildly worried” him that he would not compete as well.

He jokingly told ST, “But I guess this shows you can have fun and still perform at your job.”

And while Soh acknowledged that he is in “better shape” than when he set his previous record eight years ago, the record-high temperatures in the UK at the moment were a cause for concern. 

“To overcome it, I focused on controlling the controllables – staying calm, and executing the best I could without wasting energy worrying about the weather,” he told ST.

Commenters on the runner’s post cheered him on, with one saying they thought the headline “was great.”

Another encouraged him to just “ignore the naysayers.”

Others congratulated him on his new national record.

/TISG

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