Tan Howe Liang
On 9 Sep 1960, at the Palazetto Dello Sport Hall in Rome, Tan Howe
Liang, aged 27, put Singapore on the world map when he lifted a
total of 380kg in the lightweight (67.5kg) category to beat 33
rivals (except Russia's Viktor Busheuv) for the lightweight Silver
medal. As of the last century, it had remained Singapore's only
Olympic medal. He was bestowed the Pingat Jasa Gemilang
(Meritorious Service Medal) for his outstanding sport
achievement.
Prior to his Olympic performance, Howe Liang had already
established a world record in the Jerk (lightweight division) with
a lift of 347 pounds at the 6th British Empire & Commonwealth
Games in Cardiff in 1958. The same year, he also took home a gold
at the 3rd Asian Games in Tokyo. He easily lifted a gold
performance at the inaugural SEAP Games in Bangkok in 1959. Tan won
his second Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1962 in the
middleweight division.
Tan Howe Liang is the only Singaporean who had won a medal at all
the major international games -- Olympics, Commonwealth, Asian and
SEAP (all gold except for the Olympics). He became the first
weightlifter in the world to be awarded the International
Weightlifting Federation (national honour) Gold Award in 1984
(Sunday Times 26 Jul 92). He was also awarded the IOC Pin for his
medal winning performance at the Rome Olympics, 1960 (1989).
After retiring from competition, Tan proved himself to be an
excellent coach. His trainee, Chua Koon Siong won a gold medal at
1st Asean Weightlifting Championship with a lift of 245 kg. which
broke the Commonwealth record, then. Another trainee, Tung Chye
Hong, won a silver medal at the same game. Teo Yong Joo, another of
his proteges, won a SEA Games gold in 1983 & a Commonwealth
Games bronze in 1986.
Tan Howe Liang was voted as the 2nd greatest athlete of the last
century by the media in 1999.
taken from
www.ssc.gov.sg
