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AMONG THE FEW ATHLETES who can come close to Asian levels is triple jumper Stefan Tseng. His next major assignment is the Asian Junior Championships in Jakarta in June. -- ST FILE PHOTO
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THE miserable state of Singapore athletics is making Loh Lin Kok, the long-time president of the Singapore Athletic Association, an angry man.
The lawyer is determined to reverse the situation and vows not to play 'Santa Claus'' to mediocre athletes any longer.
From now on, athletes who look to 'kacang putih'' meets overseas as a holiday reward had better think twice.
Loh, 61, will be asking his athletes to pay for their trips if they fail to perform - much like what the swimming fraternity has been doing for the past two decades.
An athletics official for more than 30 years, Loh is right to feel let down.
For instance, the 22-member athletics squad returned with just one gold from the 45 on offer at last December's South-east Asia Games in Thailand.
It came from Zhang Guirong, who retained her shot put title but came in third in the discus.
It was the same sad story from 1993 to 2005. A total of 13 SEA Games athletics golds were won - but all came from throwers. Discus ace James Wong won eight golds before retiring.
Loh and his team mean business. They are setting a lofty target - pegging it at the Asian level.
The game-plan will require athletes to achieve as close to their peak performance as possible before they even board the plane.
It is a complicated scheme (see box).
One reason for the co-sharing scheme is the high costs of overseas meets.
At last year's Asian Championships in Jordan, the SAA spent about $60,000 on 20 athletes.
Even for nearby meets like the Asian Grand Prix in Thailand, it cost the SAA over $20,000 to send two relay teams last year.
For the financial year ending March, Loh said the SAA has already spent about $100,000 more than a typical year's budget of $500,000 on high performance.
This sum includes travel expenses and coaching fees.
But Loh denies the Pay Before You Play scheme is to recover money from the athletes.
He said: 'The amounts the athletes pay cannot compare. It's more to inculcate responsibility in them and raise a young generation capable of competing at the continental level.
'This scheme will help us weed out the non-performers.'
He refused to give names, but it is believed that the likes of China-born throwers Zhang and Du Xianhui are among those who disappointed.
The SAA spent about $6,000 to send them to Jordan last July, but they returned empty-handed.
Zhang finished fourth in the seven-strong shot put field, with a disappointing 15.99-metre throw. It was way off her national mark of 18.57m, set three years ago.
Du did not even compete, though she entered the arena. She claimed her finger was injured.
Du has since returned to her native China and is said to be happily married and has no intention of coming back. Zhang is training in China.
Dong Enxin, another China-born thrower, cost the SAA about $288,000 in living and competition expenses in his eight years here.
During that spell, the 26-year-old yielded just one SEA Games gold medal - in 2003. He disappeared late last year.
Said SAA technical director Ralph Mouchbahani, a key driver behind the new scheme: 'We are not a social welfare system. We will give support, but also in perspective to improved performances from our athletes.
'If the athlete isn't even at the overseas level, we're telling him, stay in Singapore and improve.'
Some national athletes feel that competing at Asian levels may be overly ambitious and result in the lack of overseas exposure for up-and-coming talents.
For instance, only the likes of triple jumper Stefan Tseng and sprinter Calvin Kang, both 17, can be said to be realistically close to Asian levels.
Said Calvin: 'The expectations should progress slowly, not straight away to Asian levels.'
The next major meet for the duo is June's Asian Junior Championships in Jakarta.
Said Amanda Choo, the 100m national record-holder who finished sixth at the SEA Games: 'On the senior level, there are not a lot of meets locally apart from the Singapore Open and All-Comers.'
She fears not being given the chance to race with the best overseas as her personal best of 12.12sec is still a good 0.5sec away from continental medal timings.
But Loh is adamant that the bar be raised higher.
He said: 'If we aim low, we are just bluffing ourselves. It's also time to send out the message that we are no Santa Clauses.'
limze@sph.com.sg
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