S’pore distance runner Goh Chui Ling hangs up her spikes to focus on sports lawyer career

SINGAPORE – Just over a week ago, distance runner Goh Chui Ling found herself in Bangkok alongside many Singapore athletes who were in the Thai capital for the SEA Games.

This time, however, the 33-year-old was not clad in Team Singapore colours or spikes. Instead, she had traded her competition gear for business attire, attending the Sports Arbitration Regional Seminar by the Olympic Council of Asia, where she was a speaker.

Still deeply involved in sport, the multiple national record holder made the difficult decision in 2025 to step away from competition to focus on her legal career.

The sports lawyer said: “It was a topic I couldn’t confront for a long time. It was a natural fading away because of work and I couldn’t give Singapore Athletics an answer on whether I wanted to do the SEA Games, until the last day or so.

“It’s been about 18 years of my life, I couldn’t confront the fact that this is perhaps an end of an era, but hopefully not for nothing.”

Goh, who racked up a silver and four bronzes in six SEA Games appearances,

once held national marks

in at least six individual events – the women’s 800m, 1,500m, 3,000m, 5,000m, 5km (road) and 10km (road) – at the same time.

Setting the 10km (road) mark in Switzerland in 2021 ranks as one of her career highlights as it was her first distance national mark.

She said: “It was then I realised that we can get better, not just me but also our generation of athletes. 

“What I’m happy about is that I’m still around to witness a generation of athletes surpassing my legacy and becoming a better athlete than I ever was.

“Having people like Vanessa (Lee), Nicole (Low) really breaking boundaries that I thought I set, but they went way beyond.”

Over the last two years, Lee had eclipsed Goh’s records in the three longer distances.

Goh had also taken down several longstanding national records. In 2022, she lowered the 1,500m mark, clocking 4min 27.26sec to rewrite Kandasamy Jayamani’s 4:31.20 record that had stood since 1982.

That same year, she also broke Jayamani’s 40-year-old 3,000m record of 9:56.6 with a 9:51.16 effort.

In 2024, she eclipsed Yvonne Danson’s 27-year-old national mark in the 5,000m when she clocked 17:33.73.

“I hope I contributed to that space, to say that we can break boundaries our predecessors set for us and similarly, for the newer generation to say that those records can be broken,” said Goh, who got into distance running only in her 20s.

Her track and field journey had started with the high jump while she was a student at MacPherson Secondary School before transitioning to sprints at Hwa Chong Junior College, competing primarily in the 400m and 400m hurdles.

Her years in sport have also sparked her interest in a career as a sports lawyer.

One pivotal moment came at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, where she assisted in high jumper Michelle Sng’s successful appeal for the gold medal.

In the final, Sng and Vietnam’s Duong Thi Viet Anh both cleared 1.83m but failed at 1.86m, and initially agreed to share the gold. 

However, they were later instructed to contest a jump-off, which Duong won after clearing 1.82m, prompting Singapore officials to lodge a protest.

In the end, the joint-gold result stood, with Sng claiming the Republic’s first gold in the event since 1965.

Goh recalled that was the first time she was able to practise being a sports lawyer.

While she will miss competing, she is also excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

Goh said: “One thing I’m looking forward to is being able to serve in my capacity as a sports arbitrator or lawyer at major Games – for example, still being able to attend major Games in a different capacity.

“I’m very excited for what is to come in South-east Asia, Singapore and Asia. As an athlete, you’re there to compete in your event, even when I was an athlete, you’re only thinking about the rules and regulations of your event.

“When you think about what it takes to manage the legal framework for the entire Games, for Games and Games on ends, disputes, looking at different sports, that is (the) big picture.”

National sprinter Zubin Percy Muncherji also announced his retirement from the sport on Dec 19, following the conclusion of the athletics competition at the 2025 SEA Games.

The 29-year-old was part of the men’s 4x400m relay team with Calvin Quek, Thiruben Thana Rajan and Reuben Lee who claimed the bronze after clocking 3min 10.74sec in Bangkok.

In an Instagram post, Zubin, who owns the men’s 400m national record, said: “Every major Games has given me something different, this time not just a medal, but some closure too...

“From the lowest of lows to the highest of highs, accompanied by tendonitis in several areas across my body, I can ‘retire’ in peace.”