Asian Youth Games: Ting Wen shines bright
SINGAPORE: With the nine—day Asian Youth Games done and
dusted, Singapore’s final medal haul from its 90—strong athlete
contingent is nine gold, six silver and 15 bronze medals.
The hosts’ brightest star was Quah Ting Wen, who accounted for
five medals — four gold and a bronze.
On Tuesday night, the 16—year—old was recognised for the big
splash she created at the Singapore Sports School pool when she was
presented with the Most Valuable Player (Girls) award at the
closing ceremony, held at the Games Village at Swissotel the
Stamford.
South Korean swimmer Chang Gyu Cheol, 17, bagged the male prize
after also winning four golds.
"I’m really surprised," said the 1.74m—tall Ting Wen, who turns
17 on Aug 18. "I really exceeded my expectations. I’ve done my best
times, which was what I set out to do. I’m really so happy and this
is an added bonus."
Ting Wen broke her own national records in the 100m and 200m
freestyle and was part of the 4x100m free relay team that smashed
the previous mark by almost eight seconds. She also won gold in the
50m free.
Singapore’s young athletes are set to benefit as sports chiefs
explore ways to ensure they do not slip through the net.
"We have to figure out a way to retain and train them, first for
the Youth Olympics," said Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Community
Development, Youth and Sports) Teo Ser Luck.
Each of the National Sports Associations (NSA) representing the
26 sports that will feature at next year’s Youth Olympic Games here
will receive about $100,000 in funding to help prepare their
respective athletes and sports, with medal potential likely to be
given additional funding.
The Youth Sports Development committee, launched last year with
a war chest of $15 million, will play a central role.
Said Teo: "This joint—committee will work on the effort of tying
up between the SSC, NSAs and schools to come together and develop a
programme around the athletes to enable them to train with a more
flexible academic curriculum."
Addressing the issue of National Service for the male athletes,
Teo said: "Beyond the Youth Olympics, we hope to have Mindef’s
support as well. If any of the athletes have been identified for
the Olympic Pathway Programme, then we’ll have to see if they can
go into Mindef’s sportsman scheme."
While the Singapore National Olympic Council announced plans to
reward the Games’ successful athletes monetarily, Ting Wen feels
support in areas like sports medicine and science is also crucial.
She said: "Going overseas for meets and seeing the sports science,
especially in the US and Australia, I feel that can be improved to
better help younger swimmers."
Ting Wen’s long—term goal is the 2012 Olympics, where she will
probably meet Suwon—born Gyu Cheol, who is aiming to compete at the
London Games.
Speaking via a translator, he said: "I couldn’t imagine my good
results before coming here. Before coming here, I trained a lot. It
is the best way to get good results. I ate right and was
disciplined and it also helped. I want to be a great world champion
in swimming in the future."
— TODAY
