Athletics fraternity hits back at SNOC sec-gen’s call for sport to ‘come to the party’ at SEA Games

SINGAPORE – The athletics fraternity has fired back at a comment by Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) secretary-general Mark Chay, who said

the sport has to “come to the party” at the SEA Games

if the Republic hopes to finish among the top three nations at the 2029 edition on home soil.

Chay’s remark was made at the Team Singapore review on Dec 20, the last day of the Thailand SEA Games, with the former national swimmer calling on athletics to contribute more towards Singapore’s gold medal count.

Pointing to aquatics and athletics being two compulsory sports at the biennial meet, Chay drew a comparison between their returns in Bangkok, saying that swimming delivered “50 per cent of the gold medals” (19 from 38 events), while athletics produced three golds from 47 events.

In Thailand, Singapore’s largest-ever athletics away contingent of 39 won a total of three golds, three silvers and three bronzes, alongside three national records.

The haul matched the Republic’s best showing at the regional meet in a decade, equalling the 3-3-3 tally achieved at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore.

Chay’s comment has not sat well with the athletics fraternity, with Singapore Athletics (SA) president Lien Choong Luen, deputy president Marinda Teo and distance runner Soh Rui Yong taking to social media to respond to it.

Two-time SEA Games marathon champion Soh Rui Yong, who made his fourth appearance at the biennial event in Thailand, highlighted that “Singapore are sending a bunch of full-time students, software engineers, teachers, government employees, and corporate workers” to compete against full-time athletes.

Among the examples he cited were Thai teenage sprint sensation Puripol Boonson, who completed a triple crown of the men’s 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles, as well as Thai-American distance runner Kieran Tuntivate, who clinched gold in the men’s 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m events.

A handful from Singapore’s contingent, including Shanti Pereira, who retained the women’s 100m and 200m crowns, and Marc Louis, the men’s 200m silver medallist, are under the Sport Excellence Scholarship (spexScholarship).

“Singapore has the resources to fund a proper high-performance athletics programme if this country wants to, but those resources don’t seem to be flowing in to the sport,” said the 33-year-old, who also won the 10,000m silver in 2023.

“Till then, don’t expect to win many gold medals bringing knives to a gun fight.”

Lien acknowledged that the neighbouring countries’ full-time overseas investment has resulted in “dramatic improvement” in the standard of the region’s athletes, pointing to how four of the eight finalists at the men’s 100m final at the Asian Games in 2023 were from South-east Asia.

He said: “I set great store by our athletes surpassing our historical performances or their own records, but I cannot control what the competition does.”

In Bangkok, Singapore enjoyed several breakthrough performances in athletics. Calvin Quek’s 400m hurdles gold was a first for the country in 60 years, while sprint queen Pereira achieved a historic double-double.

Kampton Kam’s high jump silver was Singapore’s first medal in the event in three decades, while Andrew Medina’s bronze in the long jump ended the Republic’s 42-year wait for a medal in the event.

Gabriel Lee also earned Singapore’s first triple jump medal since 1971 by winning a bronze, with his 16.09m effort eclipsing Stefan Tseng’s previous mark of 16.04m that had stood for 16 years.

Lien added that SA has stepped up fund-raising efforts in recent years, with companies like DBS Bank (POSB), NTUC Income, New Balance and Pocari Sweat supporting athletes, while Standard Chartered Bank has backed the Singapore Marathon.

But he stressed the need for a longer-term financing pipeline “that gives athletes certainty that if they work hard, we will walk with them through multiple seasons, through thick and thin, the PBs (personal bests) and the setbacks”.

He also highlighted the complexity of athletics, describing it as a “late-developing sport” made up of multiple disciplines.

Lien said: “The body shape of a thrower is quite different from that of a high jumper, which again differs from a sprinter, hurdler, pole vaulter or long-distance runner.

“Each of these specialities requires a separate ecosystem of coaches, equipment and training – so the top of funnel is much larger than in comparable sports, and requires proportionately more investment.”

Teo noted that at the most recent SEA Games, 80 per cent of national track and field athletes were funded through resources raised by SA, which she said underscored both the community’s commitment and the need for stronger systemic support.

Stressing that sustainable success requires collaborative commitment, she said: “We thank our collaborators in advance: SNOC, for supporting broader SEA Games nominations – because athletes must first be given opportunities to compete before they can win medals.

“SportSG (Sport Singapore), for strengthening funding pathways and expanding the number of Spex scholars, akin to the model adopted in fencing where multiple scholars are supported per event.”

With Singapore’s small population, Lien stressed the need for efficiency in every part of the development pathway.

A key focus for SA will be building an early pathway pipeline, with the association working with SportSG and the President’s Challenge to introduce a zonal combined schools track and field competition, which is targeted for launch in the third quarter of 2026.

The aim is to eventually have these combined teams participate in the National School Games.

He said: “We want kids to jump, run and throw, it’s the foundation for every sport.

“We want to broaden the base, which has eroded. We don’t just want kids who can run but kids with different physical propensities.”

Another key focus, he added, will be retaining talent post A-level or polytechnic, particularly those who may not yet be good enough for the senior national team but still show potential.

He pointed to recent results as evidence that there is talent. At the South-east Asia Under-18/U-20 championships in Medan, Indonesia, in November, Singapore won nine golds, 11 silvers and eight bronzes.

Lien said: “If you look at the U-18, U-20, it’s already in a good state, but we want to further enhance the national development squad.

“We want to build on that success. There is a big drop-off there and we want to strengthen the national development squad in different disciplines.”