A 29-year-old man was rushed to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) on Sunday after he collapsed during the half-marathon of the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore on Sunday (Dec 4) where doctors pronounced him dead.
RunSociety understands that the deceased is an overseas participant who lived in Hong Kong and his family has been informed. The Caucasian man was one of the 46,000 people who took part in the marathon, however, his identity is not yet revealed.
“Tragically and very sadly today we have had a passing of an athlete. A 29-year-old male collapsed 1km from the finish line. He was immediately attended to, immediately transported to hospital,”
said Mr Geoff Meyer, managing director of Ironman Asia.
“Our main priority and focus is the family, and we’re working with them to make sure that they are fully supported in everything that we possibly can do with them,”
the new race organiser of SCMS added.
Sport Singapore extended its condolences to the runner’s family and friends, and said it will continue to work with organisers to provide assistance to his family.
This is the second death in the 15-year history of the race. In 2011, Malcolm Sng (age 22) died after completing a similar half-marathon. It was later discovered that he suffered from a heart condition, and had died from acute coronary insufficiency.
Update, 5 December 2016: The participant who died during the half-marathon at the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore has been identified as John Gibson, a Briton who was living in Hong Kong. He collapsed just before 6.30am, about a kilometre away from the finish line at the Padang. The cause of death has yet to be determined. According to family members, the late Gibson seemed to be in excellent physical condition, and completed the Paris and London triathlons in respectable times earlier this year. He also went running regularly and completed a full-body check-up only months ago with a clean bill of health given by the doctor.
