SINGAPORE - The Republic’s indoor skydivers kicked off 2023 by bringing home a haul of seven medals (four golds, two silvers, one bronze) at the Czech Open 2023 in Prague.
Red Bull athlete Kyra Poh led the Singapore pack with a gold medal in each of her four disciplines.
Poh, 20, topped the solo freestyle open and solo speed categories and teamed up with younger sister Vera, 13, to take gold in the 2-way dynamic discipline.
Her fourth gold was in the 4-way dynamic discipline, where she teamed up with Vera, Singaporean teammate Kai Minejima-Lee and South Korean flyer Insu Jo.
Poh has won over 60 medals in 10 years of indoor skydiving, 45 of which are gold.
“I’m really thrilled to win four golds at this competition,” said Poh. “It doesn’t get easier with so many up-and-coming flyers from around the world.
“But I’m even more excited about my younger teammates like Kai and my sister, Vera, doing so well and showing results for all the hard work they’ve put in.”
Since 2022, Poh and Vera have won a hat-trick of gold medals in three outings in the 2-way dynamic discipline.
For 13-year-old Kai, 13, the Czech Open was significant as he made the leap up from the junior to open categories.
He was hot on Poh’s heels in both the freestyle open and solo speed disciplines, winning silver in both, and was also part of the 4-Way dynamic team which won gold.
He won the bronze medal in the 2-way dynamic discipline with Australia’s Ariel Daborn.
Kai said: “Competing in the Open categories was an exciting step up for me and I’m proud and happy to have achieved podium results in every discipline I entered.
“But I couldn’t have done that without the guidance and support of my teammates,” added the teenager, who won three golds on his debut at the World Cup of Indoor Skydiving (WCIS) in Belgium in 2022.
Lawrence Koh, chief executive officer and founder of iFly Singapore – which is the athletes’ training base here – was happy to see the team’s success.
He said: “As our aspiring pro-flyers continue to make a name for themselves, we are fully committed towards supporting them in their professional journey by providing them a conducive space to prepare for future competitions.”
This success at the Czech Open is the latest achievement for the Singaporean flyers. The team swept the podium in every category they entered at the 2022 WCIS, winning gold in the 2-way and 4-way dynamic events. Poh and Kai are the reigning champions in the WCIS freestyle open and junior disciplines.
The team are preparing for their next major competition, the World Indoor Skydiving Championships, in Slovakia in April. The three other members of the team are Choo Yi Xuan, Isabelle Koh and Jordan Lee, who are 21, 15 and 18 respectively.
