From figure skating to short track speed skating, Singapore’s Amelia Chua gets her dream debut at Winter Youth Olympic Games

SINGAPORE – For the first time in her life, national short track speed skater Amelia Chua spent Christmas away from home last December.

Based in Nottingham, England, for her studies and training, the 17-year-old received a ticket from her parents to fly home to Singapore for the Christmas season. But she chose to stay in England to train for the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

Just a month before that, the teenager had

earned a quota spot at the Jan 19-Feb 1 Gangwon Games,

after one of the countries did not accept its spot in the quadrennial event.

She said: “It was tough at first because this was my first time spending Christmas away from home; my family and I had already missed out celebrating my birthday (in October) with them.

“But I’m grateful to be able to train with the UK team here and for the support from the coaches and also the families of my teammates here, so I was not completely alone during the holiday season.”

Staying put in England, where she is training and studying at the University of Nottingham International College, is key to her preparations for her biggest competition.

Back home, she was able to train on ice only twice a week – Singapore’s only

Olympic-sized ice skating rink at JCube closed last August

– compared to six days in England.

All this extra work was worth it for Amelia, who has dreamt of competing at the Winter YOG since she was a young girl.

She started recreational figure skating with her family in 2012 but switched to short track speed skating two years later, after watching the Sochi Winter Olympics on television.

Amelia said: “I liked how the races were, they were really exciting. All the overtaking, even the crashes and how fast-paced the races would be...

“I was very intrigued, impressed and in awe of how the skaters were skating, so I really wanted to give it a shot.

“It was hard initially because it’s two different disciplines. But I was more into doing the fast-paced action, it felt more comfortable to me than doing the graceful figure skating things.”

She has been hooked on the sport ever since. Even a crash and an injured knee a week before her first regional competition in 2016 could not deter her.

In Gangwon, Amelia aims to progress as far as she can and she is also looking forward to meeting her fellow athletes, some of whom she met at a camp in South Korea in 2023.

She said: “I’m really excited to be representing Singapore at the YOG, it’s a huge honour and I’m very proud that I’ve come this far... It’s always been my dream to represent Singapore on such a huge stage.

“I’ve always dreamed of going to the Olympics and this is such a major personal milestone. It’s a step in the right direction.”