Tag Archives: Athletes

Jose Raymond, Vice-President of Singapore Swimming, refuted claims by Min Grace Fu that Team Singapore athletes are well-funded. He listed many examples of athletes who faced problems getting funding and suggested a review.

Singapore marathoner Soh Rui Yong disagreed with mainstream reports by insisting that there is a way for athletes to promote SNOC sponsors together with the own sponsors. "We need to get rid of the mentality that someone's gain always has to come at the expense of someone else".

The average Singaporean will be forgiven if they think that the Singapore Sports scene is in a rut after reading about a recent series of articles alleging political infighting and poor management in Singapore's top sporting bodies.

What is happening to the Singapore Athletics? Seems like trouble at the SA is still not over, perhaps undermining the athletes preparation for the SEA Games. The athletes themselves have been doing well in their recent performances in the lead up to the Games, but it is the administrators that are failing them. Some photos of a WhatsApp conversation involving key officials of the association were leaked, and it shows there is still internal turmoil and unhappiness existing between the officials. The conversations were not dated, but reports indicated that it apparently took place at the Thailand Open last week. In the conversation, SA vice-president (training and selection) Govindasamy Balasekaran was shown to be instructing staff to "get good evidence" to be shown to "P" - believed to be SA president Ho Mun Cheong - and "force him to get disciplinary action" on coaches Margaret Oh (sprint) and David Yeo (pole vault). Balasekaran also wrote: "Margaret needs to get into trouble so we can take action on her." SA staff such as technical director Volker Herrmann, SDP manager Ong Wan Xin and senior executive Shalindran Sathiyanesan were also part of said conversation.

Team Singapore athletes in the vicinity of the Swissotel the Stamford were in for a big shock on Wednesday when they witnessed a man crashing down to the ground in front of the hotel at about 1PM. Some of the athletes, who are housed at the hotel for this month's South East Asian (SEA) Games, were near the McDonalds and Starbucks outlets where the man landed. The 33-year-old man was found dead at the foot of the hotel on Wednesday. Police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) were alerted to the incident about 1.10PM. Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.