SINGAPORE — National marathoner Mok Ying Ren has hit out at recent comments made by fellow distance runner Soh Rui Yong over the male athlete wildcard selection criteria for the Rio Olympics, and the athletes who are in contention with him for the card.

In a post on his website (www.mokyingren.com) yesterday, the 27-year-old doctor, who had put his medical career on hold and trained full-time for more than a year to try to qualify for Rio, but ultimately failed to meet the 2hr 19min mark, felt that Soh’s comments were unfair and made out of turn.

“I usually avoid getting involved in Singapore Athletics’ selection criteria for any major games and refrain from publicly confronting another Singaporean athlete,” wrote Mok, who ended his qualifying bid after he clocked 2hr 27min 2s at the Ottawa Marathon in May.

“However, in light of the recent interviews given by marathoner Soh Rui Yong ... I feel the need to speak up and share my thoughts as a fellow national athlete on this issue.”

Last week, Soh, 24, criticised SA’s selection criteria, which take into account national record breakers and results at last year’s South-east Asian (SEA) Games. One of three contenders for the wildcard, Soh said the selection process was a “mess” and lambasted the criteria used as “senseless ... and not holistic”.

The 2015 SEA Games champion called on SA to select the athlete who is “best equipped to compete at an Olympic level ... and be able to qualify for the Games in future”.

SA will have to make their decision by this week, and submit it to the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) on Monday.

In his post, Mok said the criteria had been decided “more than six months ago and made known to all athletes and the public. Athletes have been working hard to qualify based on these criteria.”

He also took issue with Soh’s comments about his fellow wildcard contenders, national walker Edmund Sim, and hurdler Ang Cheng Xiang.

Soh appeared to downplay the achievements of Sim — the current national 20km walk record holder — by saying that “breaking a national record by one of two minutes doesn’t mean you are good enough to compete on the world stage”.

“(No) matter how well he or any other athlete is performing, I firmly believe it does not give them the right to belittle the achievements of others and judge their potential,” wrote Mok. “Both Edmund Sim and Ang Cheng Xiang have brought their respective disciplines to a level previously unattained by any Singaporean by setting new national records within the past year. (We) should always look to support our fellow national athletes and, at the same time, use them as an inspiration to drive ourselves to greater heights.”

When contacted yesterday, Mok said: “Rui Yong coming out to talk about the selection process just six weeks before the Olympic Games is not timely. He should have raised his concerns earlier if he wasn’t happy about it. It’s not a perfect selection criteria, for sure, but it’s a challenging process for the management committee (MC).

“It’s now up to (the MC) to make their decision based on what’s best for the sport and without any agenda. Personally, I hope athletes will work towards qualifying for the Olympics outright in future, instead of having this issue dominate the headlines for the wrong reasons every four years.”

He also felt that Soh’s comments about Sim and Ang could lead to rifts in the local athletics community.

“It’s all right to talk about your own performance, but to put others down, it may not be fair to them,” said Mok. “This might lead to bad blood between people in (the) athletics fraternity. Anyway, both Edmund and Cheng Xiang have done very well in their respective disciplines, and with Olympic experience under their belt, it could bring them to the next level.”

Mok also noted that while Soh had set a personal best time of 2hr 26min 01s at the California International Marathon in December 2014, the feat fell outside the Olympic qualifying window, which started at the beginning of 2015 and will end on July 11. He added that the California course was not considered “legal”, according to International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rules.

“IAAF rules state that the elevation drop of marathons has to be less than 1m per km in order for it to be eligible for national records or Olympic qualification, but the elevation drop of the California Marathon works out about 2.45m per km,” said Mok. “Anyway, the marathon was held outside the qualifying period for the Olympics. So while Rui Yong’s a great athlete and has a lot of potential to go far in the sport, there’s no clear justification for him to be selected for Rio either.”

Mok called upon the local track and field fraternity to give their full support to whoever is chosen for the Rio wildcard, and not bemoan or protest the final decision when it is eventually made by the SA.

In a fiery response, Soh said while the selection criteria were determined more than six months ago, that does not mean they shouldn’t be changed. “Mr C Kunalan (former vice-president of training and selection) has acknowledged that these criteria (are) a mistake,” said the Oregon-based athlete in response to TODAY’s queries. “If something is wrong, it has to be corrected.”

He also denied playing down his fellow wildcard contenders’ achievements. “I simply said that breaking national records alone doesn’t mean you are the best choice for the wildcard because some records are harder or softer than others,” he said.

Finally, Soh said he had checked with the SA about the California International Marathon and was told it could be used to qualify for major Games, but not as a record-eligible course. And even though the event was outside the Olympic qualifying window, Soh said he broke a national record (half-marathon) and won the SEA Games (gold) within the window. Letting fly at Mok, he said: “So you are picking and choosing your facts and twisting them against me.”