Your Daily Dose: 3 Singapore Olympic moments

Just because the sports world has stopped doesn't mean your sports consumption has to. In this Daily Dose series, David Lee recommends three Singapore features on the Olympic Channel to watch.

Clockwise from left: Watch how Joseph Schooling stunned the world on that fateful August night in 2016, Saiyidah Aisyah pushing through the pain barrier to reach the Rio Games and Singapore hosting the inaugural Youth Olympics.
Watch how Joseph Schooling stunned the world on that fateful August night in 2016 (above), Saiyidah Aisyah pushing through the pain barrier to reach the Rio Games and Singapore hosting the inaugural Youth Olympics. PHOTOS: OLYMPIC CHANNEL/SYOGOC
Clockwise from left: Watch how Joseph Schooling stunned the world on that fateful August night in 2016, Saiyidah Aisyah pushing through the pain barrier to reach the Rio Games and Singapore hosting the inaugural Youth Olympics.
Watch how Joseph Schooling stunned the world on that fateful August night in 2016, Saiyidah Aisyah pushing through the pain barrier to reach the Rio Games (above) and Singapore hosting the inaugural Youth Olympics. PHOTOS: OLYMPIC CHANNEL/SYOGOC
Clockwise from left: Watch how Joseph Schooling stunned the world on that fateful August night in 2016, Saiyidah Aisyah pushing through the pain barrier to reach the Rio Games and Singapore hosting the inaugural Youth Olympics.
Watch how Joseph Schooling stunned the world on that fateful August night in 2016, Saiyidah Aisyah pushing through the pain barrier to reach the Rio Games and Singapore hosting the inaugural Youth Olympics (above). PHOTOS: OLYMPIC CHANNEL/SYOGOC

1 HOW JOSEPH SCHOOLING TOPPLED SWIMMING ROYALTY

Reliving the footage of Joseph Schooling's 100m butterfly win at Rio 2016 still evokes goosebumps and makes many swell with pride.

Aug 12 (a day later in Singapore) was, as his mother May said, a day when "Singapore stopped" to watch him race, and, at his father Colin's urging, "stun the world".

From waking Colin up at 4.30am for a morning swim as an eight-year-old, to learning how to clear up after himself as a 13-year-old living and training overseas for the first time, watch and marvel at how Schooling overcame numerous obstacles - including a botched London 2012 campaign - to become Singapore's first Olympic champion.

It takes a proverbial village to build one such winner. In Schooling's case, Colin and May, as well as coaches Sergio Lopez and Eddie Reese. While there is uncertainty over Tokyo 2020, there is also anticipation, with Reese predicting: "He's nowhere near as far as he can go."

• Watch: bit.ly/3dxiJOy

2 HOW SINGAPORE'S FIRST OLYMPIC ROWER SELF-FUNDED HER HISTORIC DEBUT

She set six alarms to avoid being late for training at 4.30am. Time was of the essence when Saiyidah Aisyah was trying to qualify for the Olympics, while wearing many hats like "staff adviser, teacher, student mentor, administrator" in her day job at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Even as she achieved her dream of becoming Singapore's first Olympic rower at Rio 2016, colleagues and friends noted how generous she was with her time and energy.

It takes a special mentality to reach the pinnacle of sports, and obsess about becoming faster while fasting during Ramadan.

Saiyidah said: "I love my sport, I love waking up at crazy hours in the morning, I love to have all these blisters, I love all these muscles. There is no shortcut to being an Olympian."

• Watch: bit.ly/2WzNGLS

3 THE BEST OF THE 2010 YOG SINGAPORE

The first time is always special, especially when it is an event as massive as the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), where more than 200 teams and 3,500 athletes competed and celebrated diversity through sports in Singapore a decade ago.

The YOG programme also incorporated live youth performances, exhibitions, hands-on workshops, outdoor activities and talks by Olympians to promote cultural education among the participants.

Since then, many YOG 2010 alumni have made the leap to become champions at senior level. South African swimmer Chad le Clos won one gold, three silvers and one bronze at YOG 2010 before winning gold in the 200m butterfly at London 2012.

Others like Spanish shuttler Carolina Marin is now a three-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist at Rio 2016.

• Watch: bit.ly/33C7v6O

TOMORROW: Reasons to not give up.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 24, 2020, with the headline Your Daily Dose: 3 Singapore Olympic moments. Subscribe