Singapore Gymnastics appoint first men’s artistic head coach Francisco Azra with eye on Olympics

SINGAPORE – Over the last 15 years, the Republic’s female gymnasts have steadily broken new ground on the global stage, from Lim Heem Wei becoming the first Singaporean to compete at the Olympics in 2012 to Tan Sze En’s participation at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Now, the men’s gymnasts are looking to chart a similar path. To that end, Singapore Gymnastics has moved to strengthen the training set-up by hiring its first men’s artistic gymnastics head coach – Francisco Azra – who started work in September.

In addition to securing Olympic qualification, the Brazilian will also be tasked with enhancing the gymnasts’ performance at the regional, Asian and world levels, as well as increasing the talent pool.

On the Olympic ambition, Azra said: “This is both the goal and the dream. I like saying this because some people will say that dreams are things you’ll never achieve, but I don’t think so.

“By having a goal that you dream of, you have both the strategy and passion to go and achieve it. We will do everything in our power for this to happen in 2028, but if not, I’m sure in the next cycles, we will see a Singaporean gymnast in the Olympics.”

A former gymnast who competed mainly at the national level, Azra has had coaching experience in Brazil and England, which he feels will be beneficial for his new role.

The 37-year-old spent five years as a high-performance coach at the Minas Tenis Clube in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

That was followed by a seven-year tenure as head coach at Exeter Gymnastics Club in Britain, where he nurtured athletes who went on to represent both English Gymnastics and British Gymnastics.

Azra, who was also on the event organising team for the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, was in Singapore as a guest coach between May and June, which was a busy period for the gymnasts as they prepared for training camps and competitions, including the Asian championships.

And when the opening for the head coach job came up, he jumped at the chance.

He said: “Within Singapore gymnastics, the teams of athletes we have, I see the management team’s will and desire to make the sport grow.

“I believe when there’s a will, there’s a way – if people want to do it, things can happen.”

Before his appointment, the men’s artistic gymnasts were handled primarily by coaches Ryosuke Kusumi and Park Gi-yong at the National Training Centre (NTC), while the women’s artistic and rhythmic gymnastics programmes were managed by head coaches.

The move to engage a head coach for the men was also prompted by administrative changes at the association, which included the appointment of Nabilah Littleford as performance development manager in February and rhythmic gymnastics head coach Berfin Serdil Ors moving into the performance director role a month later.

Ors said: “We already have two very dedicated and good coaches. But, to better support the (19 to 20 men gymnasts) and bring up the sport in the country, not just in the NTC but also local clubs and the community, we believe we needed this leadership within the (men’s) NTC team.”

The men’s gymnasts have a busy schedule ahead, including October’s Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta, November’s Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships in Manila, and the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand.

The Singapore team are targeting five medals, including one gold, across all disciplines at the SEA Games.

The last time Singapore’s gymnasts won five medals at the regional meet was in 2017, while the men have stood on the podium at the last three editions.

Azra, whose contract runs till the end of 2028, has called for patience as he embarks on the long-term project.

He outlined a three-pronged approach: Popularise the sport through the clubs and nurture the national squads; enhance coaches’ education and experience; and broaden the competition base, both locally and internationally.

He said: “No one achieves anything quickly, so there’s no big results in any country that has happened in one cycle.

“In sports in general, especially gymnastics, the transformation of a country towards being a big dog in the competition takes two, three Olympic cycles, with a lot of planning, hard work and push.

“That happened with Brazil, with Britain, (and) with Australia when they had the Olympics there.

“The dream is to help Singapore Gymnastics and our teams to grow, to start achieving bigger results on the international stage and leave a legacy for the long-term development of the sport.”