The world No 1 tower runner scaled 1,061 steps to complete the 47-storey run in 5:06s to win.

This is his 67th victory of the year.

“The race was quite challenging. I started running too fast and was struggling to maintain the pace. Somehow I was able to finish. I just had to lie down after that.

“I actually had a target of under five minutes but this result is okay, next year I want to break this record,” he said.

Second and third place went to Taiwanese runners Ching Chung Lo and Yu Chieh Yen, who clocked 5:47s and 5:57s, respectively.

Selangor-born Wai Ching is looking to defend his third title at The Empire State Building Run-Up (ESBRU) in New York on Oct 4.

Wai Ching, who previously became the first Asian runner to win the ESBRU, said he wanted to keep doing well at the tournament by breaking the record of 9:33s set by Paul Crake from Australia in 2003.

Having become world No 1 in May last year, he is determined to stay at the top for the next 10 years.

He received a special award at the 2022 National Sports Awards on July 18.