SINGAPORE – Going into this season’s National School Games (NSG), Audrey Koh was looking to retain her A Division girls’ 400m title. But by her own admission, the Singapore Sports School (SSP) student was not in the best of form.
While seeking to rise above herself, she found inspiration in the form of a famous SSP alumna – sprint queen Shanti Pereira.
The national 100m, 200m and 400m record holder’s well-told story of how she overcame the lows in her career to reach the highs of Asian Games glory pushed Audrey to train harder and think positively.
On April 12 at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium, where it rained all morning, the bespectacled Audrey retained her title in emphatic fashion despite the wet conditions.
The 18-year-old, who is in the final year of her International Baccalaureate diploma programme, finished first in a personal-best 1min 00.33sec, more than three seconds ahead of Catholic Junior College’s Charlotte Li (1:03.66) and Isabel Toh of Victoria Junior College (1:03.73).
Audrey said: “Shanti is one of those I look up to, especially because she went through a hard time when she didn’t really perform. But she still persevered and became the Asian champion, so I really look up to her.”
She added that during the Singapore Athletics All Comers Meet earlier in 2024, she was not able to execute her race plan well in the 400m hurdles and was mentally affected by her performances.
While positive affirmations helped, so too did reading about Pereira’s ups and downs, recognising that they are par for the course in an athlete’s growth.
Audrey, who will defend her 400m hurdles title on April 15, said: “Yes, I was not too happy with my timings earlier in the year, but what I learnt from people like Shanti is that things won’t always be good.
“You cannot always be getting PBs and you cannot always be as fast as you want to be. So just put in the work behind the scenes and keep the belief and it won’t be that bad.”
She was not the only student-athlete who was inspired by a senior. It was the same for Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)’s Harry Curran, who retained his B Division boys’ 400m title in 51.22 seconds, with schoolmate Sean Tay (52.15) second and Henry Zhao of St Joseph’s Institution (53.34) third.
Harry has been watching closely and learning from Marc Louis, who broke U.K. Shyam’s decades-old national 100m mark of 10.37sec at the Asian Games last October. The pair train together at Bishan Stadium as they are both coached by Benber Yu.
Harry’s victory under the pouring rain on April 12 was the 16-year-old’s third consecutive triumph in a 400m NSG race. He had also won the C Division title in 2022.
Crediting Yu and Louis for winning the title, he said: “I am quite close to Marc and I am inspired by the things he has done. I try to think of it like, ‘If he can go on and break the records he has, why can’t I do the same?’. He also constantly encourages me and motivates me to do better.”
Both Audrey and Harry are not satisfied by their NSG titles and are eyeing the SEA Games in future. In the meantime, they will represent Singapore in the mixed 4x400m relay at the April 24-27 Asian Under-20 Championships in Dubai.
In other 400m results on April 12, the 400m A Div boys’ final was won by ACS(I)‘s Aidan Soh with a time of 51.60sec, while the C Div boys’ winner was Hwa Chong Institution (HCI)’s Chew Jin Ze (55.07 sec).
Methodist Girls’ School’s Alexis Teo took the B Div girls’ title with a time of 1:00.49sec while Kristy Kau of CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School won the C Div girls’ title.
In the A Div girls’ long jump, it was Megan Anne of HCI who took the victory with an attempt of 5.39m.
Over at the Home of Athletics in Kallang, a new NSG record was set on April 12 as Conrad Emery retained his A Division boys’ long jump title. The Victoria Junior College student leapt 7.36m to break the 7.26m record set in 2022 by Abel Lee.
He said: “I did not achieve this record alone. It is a testament to the support of my team, the dedication of my coaches, and their unwavering belief in me that made this possible.”
