Reports claim that a pastry chef who ‘won’ the Singapore marathon has now admitted he cheated. 

Tam Chua Puh who is 43, caused a stir when he finished Sunday's race several minutes ahead of Singapore's finest distance athletes in an astonishing time of 2hr 46min.

However, Tam admitted he had run only six kilometres (3.7 miles) of the 42km race before giving up due to knee pain and taking a short cut straight to the finish line.

He was found out after it was discovered he missed all the check points.

Speaking to The Straits Times, Tam said he simply wanted to make sure he could collect his medal and T-shirt for finishing the race.

He also revealed to the paper that he'd also cheated in the last two Singapore marathons, in which he gave up halfway and then hitched a lift from medical vans to near the finish.

"I am sorry if I offended anyone. I never thought I would create so much inconvenience for the organisers," Tam told The Straits Times.

 He added: "I never thought about going home midway. It would have been like giving up."