AirAsia will fly 2014 Gold Coast Airport Marathon ambassador, double South East Asian Games gold medalist and Singapore half marathon and 5,000m national record holder, Mok Ying Ren, to the Gold Coast to compete in the Southern Cross University 10km Run as part of his preparation to fulfil his dream of representing his country at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Last year, the world’s best low cost airline announced a three-year sponsorship with the widely recognised and premier Singaporean marathoner to provide him the necessary support and funding to achieve his goal of racing in Rio as part of their strategy to nurture young sporting talent.

Mok started his running career in triathlons in 2007 but made the switch to marathons two years later. He has placed first on four separate occasions between 2009 and 2013 at the Singapore Marathon National Championships and has cemented his position as Singapore’s number one Olympic hopeful after claiming a new national half marathon record at the Christchurch Half Marathon in June with a time of 1:07:29.

This will be the second year in a row Mok has raced on the Gold Coast, having placed seventh in the 42.195 kilometre race in 2013 with a time of 2:26:30. He is set to push for a podium finish in the Southern Cross University 10km Run on Saturday 5 July which would be the perfect gift for the young athlete who will be celebrating his 27th birthday the next day.

To acknowledge the strong relationship the event has with Singaporeans, Mok will also take on an ambassadorial role which will include speaking and providing tips to participants at the AirAsia Legends Lunch on Saturday 5 July.

AirAsia CEO Azran Osman-Rani said the sponsorship of Mok is part of an exciting strategy to nurture and promote young sporting talent in Singapore and assists supporters of Mok wanting to follow his journey to Rio with discounted flights.

“At AirAsia, we’re always looking for ways to support our youths who are chasing their dreams and we strongly believe that young sporting talents should be bold to dream the impossible,” Mr Osman-Rani said.

“Mok’s ambition to push all boundaries to make a mark in the global running scene resonates with our mission, ‘We are bold, innovative and cool!’

“We find his tenacity similar to AirAsia’s success story and we decided to step in and spearhead the culture for corporate companies to nurture young talent such as Mok.

“We also see this as an opportunity for local supporters who are avid followers of Singapore’s sport scene, to fly with AirAsia and AirAsia X to show their support at events.”

AirAsia has been a long-time supporter of the Gold Coast Airport Marathon and they will have a team of more than 20 employees from Singapore and Australia joining Mok and showcasing the famous AirAsia Allstars spirit.

“When AirAsia started out with two planes, no one believed we would become a global player. We expanded our first fleet size to over 160 in just over 10 years,” Mr Osman-Rani said.

“We have since evolved into a worthy industry player with a massive network to major cities across Asia and beyond.

“It’s really thrilling to know that we now have the power to send more local sportsmen with big dreams, like Mok, to gain more exposure in global races regionally on AirAsia and AirAsia X and soon with our new AirAsia X affiliates Thai AirAsia X in Bangkok and Indonesia AirAsia X in Bali.”

The AirAsia Legends Lunch will be held on Saturday 5 July at 12pm at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre and will feature guests including Mok Ying Ren, Steve Moneghetti, Lee Troop, Rob de Castella, Pat Carroll and Benita Willis.

Tickets can be purchased at the Suncorp Bank Information Booth at the ASICS Sport & Leisure Expo or contact us at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon office.