Disbelief, then joy for ACS (I)’s Alexis Teo, who wins surprise 400m A Division gold

SINGAPORE – Cupping her mouth in disbelief as she crossed the finishing line, Alexis Teo took a moment to soak in her A Division girls’ 400m victory at the National School Games (NSG) track and field championships on April 8.

Competing at the Home of Athletics in Kallang, the 17-year-old Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student stormed home in 59.12 seconds to clinch gold. Her triumph also marked the school’s third gold in girls’ track and field history at the NSG.

Dunman High School’s Caelyn Chew was second in 1min 1.67sec, while Kyra Seow of Raffles Institution (RI) ended third in 1:01.82.

For Alexis, the win was unexpected, as she had returned to action only two weeks before the race after pulling her hamstring in another meet. 

“I was a bit unsure if I was able to perform well… I got injured less than a month ago, so I was a bit scared that I wouldn’t win,” she said.

The teenager, who won the B Division title in 2024, was determined to prove herself on the track this season, after narrowly losing the A Division gold to Victoria Junior College’s Emily Choi a year ago.

She added: “After losing the gold medal last year, I really wanted to get it back.

“Last year I panicked. I went too fast the first 350m and then got hacked down the last 50m. So this year for me was more of ‘Don’t panic, keep my pace’.

“The last 100m, I couldn’t hear any footsteps behind me, and I was like, ‘Okay, this is it. I have to go all out.’”

It was also a fruitful morning for teammate Matthew Chalissery, who claimed his first gold in the B Division boys’ 400m in 51.74sec, ahead of Jurong Secondary School’s Binedell Jacob Trevor (51.93) and the Singapore Sports School’s Thamir Khairan Faduli (51.94).

He said: “Having come many years from a silver (in Secondary 2) to a gold (in Sec 4), I think all the hours spent in the sun have finally paid off.”

RI ruled the day with four golds after sweeping the A Division boys’ titles in the high jump, 110m hurdles and 400m, while claiming the C Division 100m hurdles gold.

Rei Tan, 17, cleared 2.05m to claim the A Division high jump gold to add to his three medals across all three divisions. His RI teammate Lau Jia Hern won silver after leaping 1.85m, while Kaai Chan of Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) took bronze with 1.81m.

Rei said: “When you start from a high starting point, the journey is harder because it’s hard to maintain at that level for many years… What helped me along was to not lose hope in my abilities.”

The teenage high jumper is not celebrating just yet, as he returns to action on April 13 to defend his triple jump title.

With the blazing heat persisting in the afternoon session, Ivy Zhang of CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School gave her supporters much to cheer about after setting a new NSG record in the C Division girls’ javelin event.

Up against 12 other competitors, the Sec 2 student emerged victorious with a throw of 35.97m, beating Leong Xin Yi (28.92m) of Cedar Girls’ Secondary School and Wong Yixi of Pei Hwa Seconday School (26.03m).

As tension mounted on the sidelines, Ivy finally beat the eight-year-old mark of 33.29m – set by Cedar Girls’ Daakshayani Negi – on her sixth and final throw, leaping for joy and embracing her teammate after the result was confirmed.

Remarkably, she had taken up javelin only a year ago, having previously trained in rhythmic gymnastics from Primary 2 to Primary 6.

Reflecting on her NSG performance, she said that “at the beginning it was not very good… but I calmed myself down”, crediting her coach for constant reminders that she could do it and giving her the confidence to win gold.

The NSG track and field championships kicked off on March 30 and will end at the National Stadium on April 17.