SINGAPORE - As 2022 approaches, sprinter Marc Brian Louis has set himself a goal of claiming the national 100m record at the SEA Games in Hanoi in May – which would put him in contention to win a first gold medal for Singapore in the event.
And as he plots to take down U.K. Shyam’s 10.37-second mark, the 19-year-old on Friday (Dec 24) received a boost after he was granted short-term deferment from national service (NS) to train and prepare for the biennial regional meet.
He was due to enlist on Jan 3, but Singapore Athletics (SA) president Lien Choong Luen told The Straits Times that on the back of his scintillating 10.39sec run on Dec 12, it sought a second short-term deferment for him. His first was to compete in the World Youth Championships in Nairobi in August.
Lien received a positive response from the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) on Friday. He said: “The fact the deferment was approved speaks to Marc’s performance and potential. His results speak for themselves, and without them we would not even have had a conversation about NS.
“We are also very grateful to Sport Singapore, the Singapore Sport Institute and Mindef for agreeing to the appeal (for deferment), and we’re all very excited about what Marc can do in major Games in 2022.”
Aside from the SEA Games, 2022 will also feature the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July and Asian Games in Hangzhou in September, although the qualification marks for those meets are 10.24sec and 10.19sec, respectively.
Said Louis: “I’m shocked and very happy I can continue training regularly ahead of the SEA Games.
“For the past few months, I haven’t trained at the (higher) intensity I do when I work toward a major competition because I was expecting to enlist.
“With this news, I can hopefully improve a little bit more. I’m really grateful to Mindef, because the first deferment helped me set a new U-20 national record (in Kenya), and I hope to make the most of this second one too.”
Lien, the general manager of ride-hailing firm Gojek, added that Louis possesses a “very positive work ethic and attitude” which would help him as he hopes to reach his full potential in the years to come.
Local sprint icon C. Kunalan shares Lien’s enthusiasm for Louis’ potential.
The 79-year-old said he had encountered Louis at a recent training session for the national relay team, and felt the youngster had the “right maturity” to make good progress.
“He still has a very young body and has not started serious strength work,” added Kunalan, who held the 100m record of 10.38sec for 33 years from 1968 until Shyam bettered it.
“There’s so much potential that can be developed when his coach puts him into the next phase of training.
“At this age, clocking even 10.5sec would be special. And he’s already done 10.39.”
In the long-term, Louis and his coach, Benber Yu, are aiming for him to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics – a tall ask given the qualification standard for the 2020 Tokyo Games was 10.05sec.
But Yu is undeterred, adding: “Give Marc time. He’s only 19 now and we are training six times a week, with strength and conditioning twice a week, but I would still say it is still at a casual level.”
In addition to ramping up training intensity and frequency, Yu said that fine details such as rest and recovery, a tailored diet, leveraging on sports science and even working with a sports psychologist, will also matter.
While Louis has had a taste of some of these through the National Youth Sports Institute, Yu said that “there’s still so much to do, and they must all combine”.
Lien also pledged SA would explore opportunities to give Louis overseas exposure, either through competitions or extended training stints.
“But this has to be tailored and co-created with both the athlete and the coach, and not something we unilaterally decide,” he stressed.
“We may have our aspirations for them but ultimately it’s for them to want… and it also depends on which receiving parties have something to offer. What is clear is that we want to do this together, and do more.”
