Disqualification controversy at mixed gender race organised by Singapore Athletics

SINGAPORE – There was no love lost between Singapore Athletics (SA) and some distance runners on Feb 14 after controversy erupted at its first All-Comers meet of the year held at the Yio Chu Kang Stadium.

Ten of 16 athletes who competed in the mixed-gender 10,000m race were initially disqualified, but eight of their results were later reinstated, causing a stir among the running fraternity here, with some hitting out at SA for holding a mixed-gender race.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, SA confirmed that the 10 disqualified athletes had contravened World Athletics’ (WA) competition regulations.

Eight were initially disqualified under regulation TR6.3.1, which addresses procedural infractions such as improper pacing arrangements and race formation.

The other two disqualified runners – Shohib Marican and Richard Heng – had contravened regulation TR5.2, which covers equipment-related infractions, including non-compliant shoe specifications.

SA added: “Following these decisions, athletes lodged protests which were initially rejected by the referee. An appeal was then submitted within 30 minutes, and a video review was conducted by the Jury of Appeal... (who) reversed the DQs under regulation TR6.3.1 while maintaining the DQs under TR5.2.

“While the window of appeal is over, we are reviewing the events on the day and will be speaking to some of the athletes involved.”

After being criticised for holding the controversial race, SA said in its defence that such mixed-gender races are permissible under WA rules, “when scheduling conflicts arise or if there are insufficient entries”.

“In this case, the mixed-race format has been a practical measure to help with the overall event scheduling, and has been deployed at previous events as well,” it added. “Due to ongoing renovations at Home of Athletics, the All-Comers 1 was held at Yio Chu Kang Stadium which is a co-shared venue with limited